After Five Years, Mahoney’s Goal for Belmont Savings to be State’s Most Admired Bank

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Photo: Robert Mahoney with Anne Paulsen at the opening of the Underwood Pool in August.

When asked what Belmont residents should know about Robert Mahoney, the CEO and president of Belmont Savings Bank said that “I’m 67 years old, and I don’t do anything I don’t like any more.” 

If there is one thing the Wellesley resident who has spent his entire career in banking wants to do is continue to run one of the best managed community banks in Massachusetts, 

“I got the chance to do a job and get paid for something I love to do. How cool is that? I’m the luckiest guy around,” said Mahoney who recently celebrated his fifth year at the helm of BSB Bancorp, Inc. the bank holding company whose subsidiary, Belmont Savings Bank, provides banking products and services.

So far, the former CEO and president of Citizens Bank has used his vast expertise to good results in Belmont. Taking charge in 2010, Mahoney has turned the once sleepy community bank into a well respected regional competitor, tripling the total assets from $400 million to $1.55 billion (as of June), increasing revenues to $10 million in the past quarter with net earnings reaching $1.6 million in the quarter ending in June. 

According to analyst web site CapitalCube.com, Belmont Savings is out performing peers institutions such as Wellesley Bancorp, Hingham Institution for Savings, People’s United Financial, and United Financial Bancorp Inc. in areas such as revenue, operating cash flow, and lending in the most recent quarter.

Mahoney also helped convert the 130-year-old institution from a mutual bank to a stock-ownership holding company in 2011. As of Tuesday, Sept. 22, the stock price was at $21.51, about 25 percent high than a year earlier. 

In addition to lead the bank to a solid financial footing for future growth, Mahoney has positioned the bank to be the center of philanthropic giving in Belmont. Establishing the Belmont Savings Bank Foundation in 2011 with proceeds from the bank’s conversion in 2011, grants from the $4 million endowment has been used to help build the town’s new pool and varsity court at the Belmont High and sponsor events throughout the year.

The bank has also worked with the Foundation for Belmont Education in the creation of the Belmont Education Rewards account which benefits the FBE and the customer. In total the bank and the Foundation have provided the FBE more than $45,000.

The Belmontonian and Belmont Media Center sat down with Mahoney to discuss his five years at the bank.


Q. In the five years since you were named President and CEO of Belmont Savings Bank, the bank’s total assets have tripled and have made what was once a small community bank into something of a financial powerhouse in MetroWest. Knowing you have a BA in Chemistry from UMass Amherst, what sort of alchemy are you doing to achieve this?

Mahoney: I’ve been very lucky to have been able to go to UMass and learned to do ‘hard’ stuff. Banking is very easy compared to organic chemistry.

Q. You had a long banking career starting at the Bank of Boston than as CEO of Citizens Bank which was a smaller regional bank when you took over which ended up with assets of $11 billion when it was sold. 

Mahoney: Citizens in 1993 had four branches in Massachusetts and $400 million in assets, coincidently the exact same size as Belmont Savings Bank in 2010. It was the eighth largest bank in Rhode Island and over the course of 15 years, it became the eighth largest bank in America. It was a lot of fun for the people who worked there because they got to be in a place where their job got bigger just by being there. Banking isn’t always fun, but banking at Belmont Savings is fun.

Q: What in your past experience did you bring to Belmont Savings Bank that has spurred its growth?

Mahoney: I’m a lender. I trained in lending at First National Bank of Boston for 23 years and did all kinds of lending. But more importantly, I know how to get it back. From a technical standpoint, that’s my primary skill. I’m also a pretty decent marketer, I know how to sell stuff and talk to people.

I’ve been doing this for 45 years, so I’d like to think I’ve learned how to get people excited about working at a place, that I can draw a picture what the world could look like if we achieve certain things and how much more fun it would be, and that’s what leaders do. Leaders draw a vision or a picture of a future state that’s better than the current state and get people to run through walls to get there.

Q: So what picture did you give your employees when you came here?

Mahoney: I wanted us to all work at the most admired bank in Massachusetts. I wanted people to go home at the holidays and meet old friends and tell them ‘I work at Belmont Savings Bank’ and their friends say, “Wow, that’s a great bank.” I think it’s great fun to work at an admired corporation. There aren’t many out there. Working for a great company, really admired company is a huge source of physic income. 

Q: What areas of banking are you targeting?

Mahoney: So what does most admired mean? First of all, you have to be growing. It’s hard to conceive of a really admired company being static.

When we first got here in 2010, we wanted to get to a billion dollars in assets. A billion dollars is a kind of a rite of passage, an entry point for a good sized admired bank. We wanted to be profitable because anyone can grow a business and not make any money. We wanted to have the services of the big banks but the touch of the community banks; the on-line services, the mobile banking services.

It shouldn’t be a compromise to be a customer of the Belmont Savings Bank; it should be equal or better and deliver the personal touch. Have people answer the phone, say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ we have a human being answer the phone, every day every hour. 

Q: Belmont Savings is known as a lending bank with an emphasis on residential and increasingly commercial real estate lending. What is your approach towards lending?

Mahoney: Residential home mortgage lending is the fundamental base of any community bank, it’s what really links you to your community. There’s nothing like helping someone buy their first home or refinance it for a better rate. 

We wanted to grow faster and we saw an opportunity in the commercial side which we thought there was a void. The big banks were becoming a little less personal and engaging. We had a lot of friends from our prior years in banking who were customers of big banks who came to us to do business with us. Why? Because we do answer the phone and they can talk to the president whenever they want. We treat them like humans. They are our friends. We know how to do this. We’re predictable; when we tell someone we’re going to get a deal done, it gets done the way we said it was going to get done. We’ve put on $500 million in the past five years. This isn’t $50 million condo projects in downtown Boston. These are $2, to $5 million projects so that’s  a lot of projects over the course of five years. We do two to three deals of significance a week.

We also do a lot of home equity lending which is terrific for the consumer, it’s a very flexible, tax advantage product where they can pay for a college education or an addition to their house or some other major capital purchase just using their home as equity. We’ve done $150 million of that product.

Q: Belmont Savings is also known for its consumer banking, placing branches in supermarkets and offering competitive rates on products. What’s that segment’s future?

Mahoney: That’s the fuel we use to lend. So if we didn’t have deposits coming in every week, we wouldn’t have the money to lend to our business and real estate customers.

We are very fortunate to have between 50 and 70 families a week switch to us. They come to us from the big banks because they’ve had that final straw that broke the camel’s bank: the ATM card that got eaten up or that surly teller or the 800 number that just wouldn’t talk back.  

The supermarkets are a natural place to attract customers because you’re surrounded by strangers all week long. The average bank branch only has customers in it. People don’t go to the bank to go shopping. But they do go to the supermarket and we see them on Wednesday in the meat aisle, Friday in the vegetable counter and we get to know them. We have promotions like spin the “wheel of fortune” to get to win their groceries for free. I had the great pleasure of one of our customers in Cambridge won what we call the ‘whole shebang’ where she got five minutes of free shopping in the Star Market. It was so much fun to watch her rack up six hundred bucks of groceries. What can’t be any better than that?

Everybody wants to have that personal touch. We all have to work for a living but you might as well make something less than miserable and treat people the way you would like to be treated.

You want to create an experience. You want someone to go home to their spouse or their best friend and say, ‘You are not going to believe what happened at the bank today.’ I want that to happen to our colleagues and I want that to happen to our customers.

Q: You’ve had a great five-year run in an industry (community banking) that has been hit hard with narrow margins and competition. What are your plans for the next five years? 

Mahoney: I think we can continue to be a better bank in Belmont. We only have 40 percent market share which means there’s 60 percent left to go. We have Newton, Waltham and Watertown and other markets that we’d like to expand. We like the MetroWest area, it’s a terrific place to do business, but an important part of our strategy is to be a community bank which isn’t just making loans and not just taking deposits but giving back to the community.

Q: On that subject, Belmont Savings Bank has been quite generous through its foundation – which has $4 million in its endownment – in supporting or sponsoring a wide range of community projects, from the new Underwood Pool (a gift of $200,000) the Foundation for Belmont Education and Joey’s Park and the new varsity court at Belmont High School. Speak about the bank’s philanthropic direction. 

Mahoney: I think giving back to the community is an obligation. It’s not a choice. It’s a reasonable thing to expect from the largest private organization in Belmont, one of the few that has the Belmont name on the door to give back.

I was at the Underwood Pool grand opening and no less than seven or eight different people came up to me and said, ‘I switched banks because of what you did for our town with this pool.’ You get to see people in an environment that wouldn’t have seen them otherwise, whether it’s the holiday party, the Turn on the Town, Town Day with our wonderful car show, the Spelling Bee or the plays. These are opportunities to meet people in a different way, to meet them as a human as oppose to a teller or a banker. We have on average over 4,000 to 5,000 hours of volunteer time in 60 event a year in this town from our 125 employees. But it’s good marketing.

Q: But the foundation’s approach is very hands on, taking the time to meet with recipients, going over plans, learning about the events. Wouldn’t it be more cost effective for the foundation to simply write a check to a few organizations each year?

Mahoney: I think [our current approach] a fantastic use of our time. But we don’t give away money, we invest. We invest in organizations where there is a payback; where we think it’s best for our families in our neighborhoods, it’s best for our students, for getting our visibility out there. I don’t think just sliding checks under the door at midnight is a sustainable model for philantropy. I think there has to be some sort of return; a reputational return, a good will return, a fund for colleagues as part of being the most admired bank. That’s a return for the bank. 

Sold in Belmont: Allen House on Concord Ave. Tops $3 Million

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Photo: 580 Concord Ave.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes.”

• 6 Hurd Rd. Colonial (1930). Sold: $782,000. Listed at $779,000. Living area: 1,767 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 71 days.

• 182 Channing Rd. Modern reconstruct (1959/2015). Sold: $1,345,000. Listed at $1,389,000. Living area: 2,570 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3 full, 2 partial baths. On the market: 56 days.

• 52 Unity Ave. #1. Condominium (1920). Sold: $460,000. Listed at $459,000. Living area: 1,652 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 106 days.

• 580 Concord Ave. (1987). Colonial. Sold: $3,300,000. Listed at $2,500,000. Living area: 3,850 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 108 days.

• 50 Slade St. #1. Condominium (1925). Sold: $467,500. Listed at $429,000. Living area: 1,100 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 65 days.

Simply put, the nearly 30-year-old box Colonial on Concord Avenue which was home to the late Anne Allen is an example of good taste in design and dimensions, a house built to impress through traditional residential architecture. There are no grand gestures or sweeping over-the-top statements that too many new construction attempts to do. There is symmetry both in the exterior – the six over six windows align, main entry centered, a balanced rear extension which is actually a separate wing  – and the interior where rooms are square with high ceilings, the kitchen doesn’t overpower the ground floor, details are refine. This is a Belmont classic, joining the “White House” on Alexander as wonderful residences in the Town of Homes. 

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Real Estate Firms Lawndale, CENTURY21 Adams Merge

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Photo: Lawndale Realty in Belmont Center.

Two well known real estate brokerages serving Belmont – an independent firm in Belmont Center and a local office of a national franchise – have merged to combined two of the longest-running firms in the “Town of Homes.” 

CENTURY 21 Adams Realty – located in Cushing Square at 486 Common St. – announced today, Thursday, Sept. 17, it has combined forces with Lawndale Realty of Channing Road, and will be known as CENTURY 21 Adams Lawndale.

“Led by Jim Savas, CENTURY 21 Adams Realty was established in 1989 and quickly became one of the top CENTURY 21 Real Estate Offices in New England, consistently earning two annual national awards for both sales and customer satisfaction. Lawndale Realty, Inc. was created 1984 by lifelong Belmont residents, Fred and Sue Pizzi, and has enjoyed continued success as the leading independent home seller in Belmont, specializing in residential sales and rentals,” read the press release issued on Sept. 17.

The new shop will be an independently owned and operated franchise affiliate of Century 21 Real Estate LLC, the well-known brand comprised of approximately 6,900 franchised broker offices in 78 countries and territories worldwide with more than 100,000 independent sales professionals.

Sold in Belmont: Time for a Pricing Haircut Across Housing Types

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Photo: 275 Brighton St.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes.”

483 Pleasant St. Condominium (1986). Sold: $840,000. Listed at $895,000. Living area: 2,175 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 155 days.

54-56 Falmouth St. Multi-family (1900). Sold: $780,000. Listed at $825,000. Living area: 3,684 sq.-ft. 13 rooms, 7 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 64 days.

182 Waverley St. Condominium (1891). Sold: $477,000. Listed at $479,000. Living area: 1,095 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 52 days.

275 Brighton St. Colonial with extension (1946). Sold: $875,000. Listed at $895,000. Living area: 2,010 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 105 days.

Data compiled by Zillow, the online real estate database company, report that long-term sale prices for all housing in Belmont has hit its peak and will begin a slight downturn in values in 2016. 

So, was that the reason the four home sales – including two condos, a single- and a multi – that occurred last week in Belmont each failed to reach its initial list price? Is the hot real estate market cooling along with the seasons?

Probably not. While, indeed, the homes required a “haircut” of its list price to move the sale, there remains a short inventory of homes in Belmont. Also, mortgage rates remain low, enticing potential homebuyers as the market awaits the Federal Reserve raising grates by at least 25 basis points later in the month.

More likely, the failure of list prices to hold their position could be influenced by the small number of sales in the sample, half the usual number impacted by the holiday. Or sellers and their Realtor/sales person continue to overvalue homes, hoping to squeeze as much money from their houses.

So not to worry; there is no Belmont bubble homeowners need to be concerned over … yet.

Belmont Light Asking Customers to Limit Usage Over Next Two Hot Days

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Photo: Air conditioning units use a great amount of electricity.

Who said Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer?

The next two days will see temperatures in Belmont hit the 90s, and with that comes higher than normal energy usage and higher costs.

Sagewell, Inc. –the Woburn-based administrator of Belmont Light Energy Efficiency – is asking its 11,000 customers to help Belmont save energy and money by reducing their electricity consumption between 3 p.m.and 6 p.m. during the next two days.

Electricity cut during peak times helps Belmont mitigate rising utility costs, according to Sagewell.

“Nearly one-third of your electric bill is for the cost of procuring sufficient capacity for peak days and these costs are continuing to increase for all utilities across New England,” Sagewell notes.

Here are some tips to reduce Belmont peak electricity consumption:
●     Adjust air conditioners between four p.m. and 6 p.m. and turn off the AC in rooms that are not used. Adjusting the thermostat even by 2-3 degrees helps.
●     Use a microwave oven or an outdoor grill instead of a stove or a regular oven.
●     Shift laundry and dishwasher use to after 6 p.m.
●     Shift other electricity use to before 3 p.m. or after 6 p.m.

Residents and businesses with questions or would like advice on how to decrease peak energy consumption, feel free to contact Sagewell at support@sagewell.com or by calling 617-963-8141.

Cushing Square Municipal Lot Closing for Good in Fortnight

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Photo: The municipal lot in Cushing Square. 

A long-time landmark in parking scarce Cushing Square will soon disappear as Belmont Police announced Monday, Aug. 31, the closing of the municipal parking lot adjacent to Trapelo and Williston roads.

The lot, which serves neighborhood businesses, shoppers, overnight parking and commuters, will shut down in the next two weeks, said the release.

Police note that 50 underground spaces reserved for municipal use will be available to the public when the project nears completion in 18 months. 

The closure is due to the start of construction of the Cushing Village construction project, the long-delayed 167,000 sq.-ft. multi-use development that will occupy the lot, the location of the former S. S. Pierce store building at the intersection of Common Street and Trapelo Road and the former CVS site at Common and Belmont Street. 

After the lot is closed, area businesses that purchased town-issued monthly parking passes in the lot “will be allowed to park in the Cushing Square area free from time restrictions on parking with the exception of the following roads: Trapelo and Horne roads and Common Street. 

Belmont Police will work closely with businesses and residents to minimize the impact of an increase in vehicles in the surrounding neighborhoods. The department will rely on a similar plan in place during the reconstruction of the municipal lot in Waverley Square last year. 

Questions can be directed to Belmont Police Traffic Sgt. Ben Mailhot at 617-993-2538.  

Sold in Belmont: Mid-Level Homes Also Being Snatched Up

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Photo: 52 Thomas St.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes.”

67-69 Beech St. Two-family (1910). Sold: $678,000. Listed at $649,000. Living area: 2,454 sq.-ft. 10 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 2 baths. On the market: 70 days.

253 Payson Rd. Colonial (1940). Sold: $960,000. Listed at $906,000. Living area: 2,166 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 64 days.

25 Drew Rd.,#2, Condominium (1924). Sold: $480,000. Listed at $395,000. Living area: 1,124 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 63 days.

25 Drew Rd.,#1, Condominium (1924). Sold: $425,000. Listed at $400,000. Living area: 950 sq.-ft. 5 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 63 days.

46-48 Benjamin Rd. Multi-family (1924). Sold: $950,000. Listed at $899,000. Living area: 2,860 sq.-ft. 13 rooms, 6 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 70 days.

21 Barnard Rd. #1, Condominium (1924). Sold: $470,000. Listed at $429,000. Living area: 1,265 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 2 bedrooms, 1 baths. On the market: 70 days.

52 Thomas St. Antique early-Colonial (1870). Sold: $764,100. Listed at $749,000. Living area: 2,242 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 77 days.

Selectmen Agree To Sell Municipal Parking to Cushing Village Team

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Photo: The Belmont Board of Selectmen signing the agreement with Cushing Village.

Eight years after it was first proposed and 24 months since receiving the town’s go-ahead to begin construction, the developers of the proposed 164,000 square-foot Cushing Village multi-use project have the critical piece of town-owned property in its hand to possibly begin work on the long-delayed development. 

Without a representative of the development partners present for the landmark event, the Belmont Board of Selectmen voted at its Monday, Aug. 17 meeting to approve a purchase and sale agreement for the municipal parking lot at 116 Trapelo Rd. to Starr Capital Partners LLC., a Massachusetts Foreign Limited-Liability company based in Acton that registered in by the state in June.

“This is a major step forward for both Cushing Square and the town,” said Selectmen Chair Sami Baghdady. 

“It’s a long time coming,” said Selectman Mark Paolillo. 

The cost of the lot is $850,000 with total revenue to the town – including fees and permits – could reach $1.3 million, according to earlier estimates.

In addition, the town will “not tender the deed to the parking lot unless the financing closes … to give us the insurance that this project is actually going forward, and something doesn’t happen in the interim,” said Baghdady.

“I think that was key to the deal … and we did what was needed to be done,” said Selectman Jim Williams. 

According to the board, Wells Fargo Commercial is the primary lender with Cornerstone, one of the largest diversified global real estate managers, providing the secondary lending component. 

“We’re comfortable … with folks that we want to be involved with, and I’m happy that we are finally moving forward,” said Paolillo.

The agreement includes an easement to the town “in perpetuity” for 50 parking spaces in the project’s underground garage. 

In addition, the town will “not tender the deed to the parking lot unless the financing closes … to give us the insurance that this project is actually going forward, and something doesn’t happen in the interim, said Baghdady.

If the development is once again “unreasonably” delayed, the development team will be charged a monthly fee of $33,000 up to $800,000 in damages if the project ceases.

There is no information when construction will begin at the site at the corner of Common Street and Trapelo Road.

The project includes three buildings: at the municipal parking lot, at the corner of Trapelo Road and Common Street, and the intersection of Common and Belmont streets. The development will include approximately 38,000 square feet of commercial space, 115 dwellings units (60 two bedroom units and 55 one bedroom units) that includes 12 affordable units and 225 parking spaces as a result of the sale of the municipal parking lot. 

This is the second time the board has voted on selling the parking lot to a team led by Acton’s Chris Starr. In October 2010, the board voted to end negotiations with Starr’s Cushing Village Partners.

A week later, Starr files a lawsuit against the individual Selectmen alleging bad faith actions during the purchase negotiations. Six months after threatening the board, Starr and the town signed a preliminary purchase and sale agreement for a parking lot in March 2011.

It would take nearly a year before Starr submitted an application in January 2012. And it would take 18 months for the town’s Planning Board to approve a special permit to allow the project to be built in July 2013. 

The project was delayed another 25 months as Starr found it difficult to obtain financing for the project. After attempts to sell the project or find an equity partner, Starr joined forces with Cambridge-based Urban Spaces, in the spring of this year. 

Belmont Light to Customers: Cool It Using Electricity During Peak Heat

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Photo: Air conditioning units use a great amount of electricity.

The summer’s first official heat wave – three consecutive days of 90-plus degree temperatures – is expected to put a mighty mechanical and monetary strain on Belmont Light, the town’s utility.

In anticipation of Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 17-18, being high electricity usage days, Sagewell, Inc. –the Woburn-based administrator of Belmont Light Energy Efficiency – is asking its 11,000 customers to help Belmont save energy and money by reducing their electricity consumption on the first two days of the week between 3 p.m.and 6 p.m. 

Electricity cut during peak times helps Belmont mitigate rising utility costs, according to Sagewell.

“Nearly one-third of your electric bill is for the cost of procuring sufficient capacity for peak days and these costs are continuing to increase for all utilities across New England,” Sagewell notes.

Here are some tips to reduce Belmont peak electricity consumption:
●     Adjust air conditioners between four p.m. and 6 p.m. and turn off the AC in rooms that are not used. Adjusting the thermostat even by 2-3 degrees helps.
●     Use a microwave oven or an outdoor grill instead of a stove or a regular oven.
●     Shift laundry and dishwasher use to after 6 p.m.
●     Shift other electricity use to before 3 p.m. or after 6 p.m.

Residents and businesses with questions or would like advice on how to decrease peak energy consumption, feel free to contact Sagewell at support@sagewell.com or by calling 617-963-8141.

Selectmen Decision on Long-Delayed Cushing Village Set for Monday

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Photo: The proposed future home of Cushing Village development. (Google map)

While many residents attending the Belmont Board of Selectmen’s Monday evening meeting, Aug. 17, are coming to see how the three-member council reacts to last week’s Special Town Meeting vote, it’s another decision before the board which will have long-lasting ramifications for town.

Monday will likely see the selectmen decide to accept what insiders are calling a “voluminous” and “complicated” financial plan for the long-delayed multi-purposed Cushing Village project proposed for the heart of Cushing Square at the corner of Common Street and Trapelo Road.

Cushing Village’s development partners Smith Legacy Partners and Cambridge-based Urban Spaces is seeking to construct a three-building complex comprising 115 apartments, about 36,000 square feet of retail/commercial space and a garage complex with 230 parking spaces. It would be Belmont’s largest commercial/housing project in decades.

The selectmen will meet in a “working session” with town officials early Saturday morning before going into a second executive session to discuss the terms for both the sale of the municipal parking lot at Williston Street and Trapelo Road for $850,000 to the partnership as well as their ability to finance the project.

Since winning approval from the Planning Board after an 18-month review, the project has stalled due to several reports that Smith Legacy – the development company which began pursuing the project nearly eight years ago – could not secure commercial financing for the project.

Earlier in the month, the Planning Board extended by 30 days the Special Permit allowing for the construction of the approximately 167,000 square-foot development beyond its two-year limit of Aug. 19.

After paying nearly a quarter of a million dollars in fees to extend its opportunity to purchase the parking lot, Smith Legacy found an equity partner in Urban Spaces in April of this year at which time the stalled project began moving forward.

Yet with distractions including Urban Spaces’ CEO being arrested for soliciting sex on Craigslist and a hurried filing of the proposed financial plan, the selectmen have the options of rejecting the proposal, accept it or tell the partners to clarify and resubmit sections of the proposal.