Special Town Meeting Places Appointed Treasurer Question On The April 4 Town Election Ballot

Photo: Special Town Meeting approved the one article on the agenda

In an overwhelming show of support for transforming how the town runs its finances, the Belmont Special Town Meeting voted Monday, Jan. 30, to place a ballot question on the 2023 annual Town Election to convert the elected town treasurer’s post to an appointed position.

The vote – 195 yes, 52 no, with one abstention – will place before town voters at the April 4 election the opportunity to implement a major recommendation proposed by the 2022 Collins Center Report in reshaping Belmont’s fiscal structure or to retain the current framework that stretches back to the town’s founding in 1859.

On Monday, the 247 members who attended the virtual meeting expressed a clear preference for change.

“The town would be best served by being able to hire the most qualified person available, not the most popular resident who wins an election,” said Belmont Select Board Adam Dash who presented the board’s position.

In his final Town Meeting as a member of the Select Board, Dash noted the Treasurer’s position requires a state-regulated set of technical skills and experience which, by, “restricting the pool of people to just Belmont residents prevents us from casting a wide net which includes looking outside for the hire.” According to the Collins Center report, 821 Belmont residents work as financial managers in the finance and insurance industry, while Middlesex County has 40,000 in the same occupation.

Mark Paolillo, chair of the Select Board, said adopting significant change in the town’s financial management – as recommended by the Collins Center report and advised by a 2011 Division of Local Services analysis of the town – which has been hampered for years by the lack of a unified approach in the budget process.

“The town of Belmont is one of the most decentralized towns in Massachusetts … and it really diminishes our effectiveness around financial management,” said Paolillo.

The meeting also heard from Treasurer Floyd Carman, who decided not to seek re-election in April, ending 18 years in the post. Carman – who received unanimous praise from the meeting for his stellar tenure at treasurer – primarily spoke on the duties and requirements of the job. Carman did not expand on the Special Town Meeting article itself, remaining agnostic on his personal views of the article.

If voters approve the ballot question, the town will begin a process of advertising for and vetting candidates before making a selection while the Treasurer’s Office staff runs the day to day operations. If the measure fails, the person who receives the most votes, including write-ins, will serve three years as treasurer.

While state statute names the Select Board as the appointing agency, Belmont’s Town Administrators Act passed in 2014 supersedes the state law, with Town Administrator Patrice Garvin holding that responsibility.

During the 66 minutes of debate, many members supporting the article concurred with the Collins Center’s findings that Belmont needs to revamp its management structure to meet current and future budget challenges effectively.

“The town is in a financial crisis and I strongly support making this position an appointed one for all the reasons described in the Collins Center report,” said Roger Fussa, precinct 8. Speaking from the report, Fussa said effectively dealing with Belmont’s structural deficit is rooted in its financial organization. If the residents and town officials back away from the 19 Collin Center recommendations being proposed – which an appointed treasurer is considered a priority – long-term solutions “will bare little fruit,” said Fussa.

Others believed Belmont can no longer roll the dice on selecting one of the most important posts in town based on politics.

“This position is simply too important and requires too much expertise to leave up to a vote and up to chance,” said Nicole Dorn, precinct 1, who works in a financial role for a public entity. “There is an incredible amount of complexity and compliance that goes into these roles. Imagine if we got someone in this position without the skills to manage our bond rating and it tanks? That would have a greater negative impact on our town that perhaps any action taken by the Select Board or Town Administrator or even ourselves.”

While politics plays an integral and essential role in shaping Belmont’s future, Paul Joy, precinct 7, said some positions in town government require “a different set of skills and experience, a level of professionalism that simply can’t be politized.”

“It is imperative that we separate politics from the professional role in town government to ensure that our financial health remains strong and secure,” he said.

Those seeking to preserve the current elected Treasurer’s post view the proposed change as taking the resident’s voice out of the selection process. Judith Ananian Sarno, precinct 3, said “my perspective is our town officials are proposing we take the hiring decision away from the 1,000s of voters … and then want to make the change to making it a position hired by one person. In this case, the town administrator with sole authority to hire,” noted Sarno.

“[Currenty] our elected treasurer is required to be a Belmont resident and in my view, this ensures that the persons running for the office will have a commitment to serving Belmonts financial interests is not necessarily true of the professionals we hire from outside Belmont,” Sarno said.

Judith Feinleib, precinct 6, questioned the “significant unintended consequences” to the town if the Treasurer is no longer providing an independent voice on financial matters.

Feinleib argued – counter to the finding in the Collins Center report the town has too many separate financial entities – that Belmont’s “unusual but effective governmental structure” in which the elected offices such as the Select Board, Town Clerk, Assessors and Treasurer, provides a balance not just to each other, but to influential volunteer committees, ie. the Planning Board and the Warrant Committee, “on which Belmont depends for so much of the work that is needed to keep our town running.”

Feinleib said this “healthy balance” of multiple power structures will be lost if the Treasurer is made into “a mid-level appointed bureaucrat,” resulting in the volunteer committees and “our unelected town administrator … will have too much power.”

Breaking: Belmont Police Report ‘Possible’ Shooting On Olmsted Drive, Two At Area Hospitals

Photo: Belmont Police investigating shooting on Olmsted Drive

Two people were likely shot Monday afternoon in an Olmsted Drive parking lot and are being treated at area hospitals, according to a Belmont Police press release.

The preliminary investigation indicates this was not a random act of violence, according to police.

The police as of 8 p.m. continue to investigate what they are calling a “possible shooting” after finding evidence at the scene and learning that two possible gunshot victims were being treated at local hospitals, said Belmont Police Chief James MacIssac.

The press release said Belmont officers responded to a pair of 911 calls reporting shots were fired in a parking lot off Olmsted Drive around 5:20 p.m. Police found spent shell casings and a magazine but no victims or suspects. Olmsted Drive is the location of Waverley Woods apartments.

After an investigation, police learned two possible victims with gunshot wounds were being treated at local hospitals.

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to call Belmont Police at 617-484-1212.

More to come.

Belmont Treasurer Carman Will Not Seek Re-election, Opens Up Vote On Appointed Post

Photo: A 2014 photo of Town Treasurer Floyd Carman

Floyd Carman, Belmont’s long time Treasurer, announced late Friday, Dec. 30, his decision not to seek re-election to the post in the April 2023 town election.

“I am retiring and not running for re-election on April 4, 2023, as your Elected Town Treasurer and Tax Collector after 18 years on the job,” said Carman in an email to residents. “It has been a privilege and honor to serve Belmont.”

The announcement makes official what was speculated in the fall when the Select Board’s Roy Epstein revealed that Carman would not seek a seventh three year term as the town’s leading financial official. Carman would later say in November that he would decide whether to run to keep the post “sometime in the new year.”

With Carman’s decision, the Select Board will move forward with its plan to seek Town Meeting approval to restructure the Treasurer’s position from an elected position to one which is appointed by the Town Administrator. The Board is seeking to implement one of the major recommendations proposed in a report by the Collins Center for Public Management released in August 2022. The report called Belmont “one of the most decentralized town structures of its size existing in the Commonwealth” resulting in a “significant diffusion of responsibilities and authority across the executive branch.” The Center made nearly 20 recommendations including the change to an appointed treasurer to allow a more cohesive approach to budgeting and financial management.

The Special Town Meeting will be held in February for member to vote on an article to establish an appointed treasurer post. If adopted, a ballot question will be presented to voters at the Town Election. During this time, any eligible voter can run for the open post to fill the three year term. If the voters approve the appointed treasurer post, the winner in the general election will serve until the legislature approves the voters initiative which will occur in a matter of weeks. If the voters rejects the proposal, the winner will serve the three year term.

The Select Board has come out in strong support for the appointed post as have many members of the influential Warrant Committee. Additionally, Elizabeth Dionne, the sole candidate seeking to fill the seat on the Select Board held by Adam Dash who is not running for re-election, has said she supports a appointed treasurer. Critics of the change have said there are highly qualified residents who can fill the post who will then be beholden to the voters rather than a non-elected Town Administrator.

Breaking: Dash Will Not Seek Re-Election To Select Board In April Town Election

Photo: Adam Dash

Two term Belmont Select Board member Adam Dash announced he will not seek re-election to the three-member body in the upcoming Town Election this coming April 2023.

Dash made the statement in a press release on Thursday, Nov. 17.

“When I was first elected, I knew that I wanted to serve more than one term because three years was not enough time to accomplish my goals, but that I did not want to serve indefinitely because new people should get a chance to serve,” Dash said in his announcement.

“Today, I am comfortable with what we have done, and I am ready to turn over my seat to someone new.”

Dash’s decision creates an opening on the board that oversees Belmont’s town government as it begins the process of implementing recommendations from the Collins Center report on structural changes to town governance and as Belmont enters a period of fiscal uncertainity.

Known for his lawyerly demeanor – Dash is an attorney with a practice in Cambridge – and someone who argues points in a cordial manner, the Goden Street resident has created effective partnerships with each of his board colleagues.

Dash’s tenure will be known for his leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic which occupied most of his second term (Dash was re-elected in June 2020 when the election was pushed back by two months; he ran unopposed).

“Having been re-elected during the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020, I spent untold hours helping our dedicated team navigate the medical and financial crises, and I am proud to say that we adapted and continued to serve the community,” he said.

Dash was first elected in 2017, defeating Guy Carbone, 63 percent to 37 percent as Dash won seven of eight precincts. A member of the financial watchdog Warrant Committee since 2009, Dash’s profile rose to prominence in 2015 as the public face of the “Yes for Belmont” campaign, successfully arguing the need for a $4.5 million multi-year override.

Dash pointed to the board’s accomplishments in the past six years including, as a member of the now defunct Light Board, to bring Belmont Light to the brink of 100 percent green energy; increased the number of women and people of color on Town boards and committees; built a new High School; renovated and added onto the Police Station and DPW buildings.

In addition, there was the hiring of new Town Administrator, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Town Accountant and Belmont Light General Manager; chose a route for the Community Path; re-designed the Town’s health insurance plan; passed a Housing Production Plan and new liquor license regulations; banned plastic bags; while successfully maintaining Belmont’s “coveted AAA bond rating.”

“I want to thank everyone who put their trust in me. I also want to thank the Town’s dedicated employees who have worked through difficult times to continue making Belmont the town we love.  We would not have accomplished anything without them,” said Dash.

Belmont Election Results: New Library Wins Big, Rink A No … For Now

Photo: The old and the new: The existing building and a rendering of the new structure.

Belmont voters gave a rounding “yes” to a new public library building as the debt exclusion to pay for the new structure passed by more than 1,800 votes on the Nov. 8 state election ballot. The final tally was 6,763 yes against 4,916 no votes.

The same voters narrowly defeated a separate debt exclusion for a new skating rink/athletic facility to replace the delipidated ‘Skip’ Viglirolo Rink. More than 300 votes defeated it; 5,613 yes to 5,978 no.

But rink supporters may get a second bite of the apple as at least one of the three Select Board members said the debt exclusion could be back before voters at the annual Town Election in April 2023.

The two debt exclusion questions increased interest in the election as nearly two-thirds of Belmont’s 18,187 registered voters cast 11,974 ballots in person or via mail.

Preliminary results for all state-wide races and the four ballot questions can be found on the Town Clerk’s website here

Due to changes in state law, the public got their first look at a new two-stage voting process. The first vote tally – a long tape with results posted at each of the eight precincts – was day-of-the-election voting. A substantial number of votes from early and mail-in voting were calculated after the polls closed.

When the eight precinct tallies were counted, the library inched ahead, with the rink holding a slim 17-vote lead. A dozen supporters and interested residents hovered around the second-floor vestibule of the Selectmen’s Room as Town Clerk Ellen Cushman announced the more complete but still preliminary results.

(Final results will be certified when remaining votes from overseas, military personnel, and mail-in ballots with postmarks of Nov. 8 and earlier are tabulated.)

The third time was a charm for the supporters of the new library after two failed attempts to bring debt exclusions before voters in the past two decades. The new building, designed by Oudens Ello Architecture, will be built on the library’s current location at 336 Concord Ave. to replace the existing 56-year-old structure.

“This a huge victory for Belmont to get this library passed,” said Paul Roberts, who is associated with the “Vote Yes Library” campaign and was active on social media platforms presenting facts on the library project. He praised the work of the Board of Library Trustees, trustee Kathy Keohane and Library Director Peter Struzziero for “keeping a new library and bringing it back again and again so that we could bring this across the line.”

“It’s going to be a treasure,” said Roberts of the new library.

The cost of the 41,500-square-foot building is $39.5 million, with at least $5 million of that price tag reduced by an aggressive fundraising campaign from the Belmont Library Foundation.

An 11th-hour campaign to defeat the debt exclusion vote did not catch traction with the broader community.

What helped get the new library project to perform so well was its time before the community. The campaign began in 2017 with dozens of public meetings and forums over the past five years to review programming, design, and financing. The committee spent two years evaluating the current library’s building infrastructure and usage data, interviewing library staff and patrons, conducting wide-reaching community surveys, facilitating focus groups, meeting with community members, town organizations, and other key stakeholders, and holding multiple community forums, according to the trustees.

“[The library project] was very well known. Everyone who heard about the new building knew something about it,” said Roberts.

From treasure to disgrace

The defeat of the new rink proposal was surprising because there was no organized opposition. Of the two projects, the rink requires replacement, with the structure’s infrastructure and interior in dire condition.

Reactions from rink supporters to the vote were a mix of exasperation and despondency.

“It’s going to cost the town (an additional) $250,000 a year to field four high schools [hockey] teams,” said Mark Haley, chair of the Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee, after the vote was announced. “That’s a disgrace. This is disgusting.”

If the library proposal could be described as a marathon taking several years to present the plan to the public, the rink project was a sprint, having five months to finalize the design and finances and holding a handful of meetings with the public.

But Cheryl Grace, who headed the “Yes For Rink” committee, didn’t believe the project needed additional time before what was a large number of residents who were reluctant to support the proposal.

“There were a lot of people who were saying, ‘it’s not used by many people, so why should we put our money as a town into something that a small group uses’ and there’s nothing we can do to convince them. Time wouldn’t change those opinions,” Grace said.

What hampered the rink proposal was being on the same ballot as the library debt exclusion.

“I think the decision to put both of these (questions) on the ballot created some complexity, and clearly, there were voters who chose one and not both,” said Roberts. “Clearly, there were voters who said, ‘I can support one of these, I can’t support both of them’.”

And finally, there was the question of voter exhaustion, according to Lucinda Zuniga of the Belmont Youth Hockey Association.

“I think there’s fatigue from all the other projects, from the library, Middle and High School, police station, DPW, and the rest. And we were the last capital project remaining,” she said.

But as the sting of defeat was felt by supporters, a ray of hope that the proposal could be resurrected was provided by Belmont Select Board Chair Mark Paolillo who was in attendance at Town Hall.

“I think you have to think about [putting the rink back before the voters] long and hard, but it’s so close that it’s a split vote in town,” said Paolillo as Town Hall cleared out.

Paolillo said once the final tally in late November is certified and if the margin remains at 300 votes, “it’s pretty much a tie,” he said, noting that the Select Board – which placed the two debt exclusions on the same ballot – will need to talk to Town Moderator Mike Widmer to see if the Rink Building Committee can continue “for now.”

“So perhaps we go back out in the spring and continue to educate the residents about the need,” said Paolillo. “Clearly, we need a new building.

Breaking: Belmont Superintendent Phelan To Retire in Fall ’23

Photo: Belmont School District Superintendent John Phelan who announced his retirement as of Fall 2023.

After nearly a decade leading the Belmont School District, Superintendent John Phelan announced his retirement as of fall 2023 during the Belmont School Committee meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 1.

Phelan said he was making the annoucement now to allow the committee time to hire a new leader that will allow that person time to become familiar with personnel and policies. Phelan leaves at the same time as the town opens in September 2023 the new Middle School wing of the $295 million Belmont Middle and High School building.

”I want to say ‘thank you,’” said Meg Moriarity, school committee chair, before the full committee gave Phelan a round of applause.

Hired in December, 2013, Phelan became superintendent on July 1, 2014. Previously the assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Personnel for the Milton Public Schools, Phelan took the helm of the district as Belmont faced possible large budget cuts in schools which was avoided when the town passed a Prop 2 1/2 override in April 2015. Phelan has been working with the town on funding the district to limit layoffs and support education after the town rejected the latest override in April 2021.

Phelan also had a major role in proposing and the planning for the new Belmont Middle and High School which was approved by voters in November 2018.

But it was Phelan’s management of the district during the Covid-19 pandemic which will be his major legacy beginning in March 2020. With the need to shut buildings and start a remote learning model for 4,300 students from scratch, Phelan was the public face of the district decisions which put him under fire from a portion of residents who sought alternative methods to learning. Despite the opposition, Phelan’s ‘safety first’ approach would be the district’s standard.

Bomb Threat Shuts Down Belmont High, Second Time This Year

Photo:

Belmont High School has been shut down this morning, Oct. 31, for the second time in five months due to a bomb threat.

Belmont Police Chief James MacIsaac and Fire Chief David DeStefano report that both departments responded to the school around 10:25 a.m., when the high school’s School Resource Officer was notified of a threatening message left on the school’s voicemail.

According to a press release, Belmont Police and Fire arrived at the Concord Avenue location to support a precautionary evacuation of the building. A preliminary investigation indicates that the threat was left on a school voicemail last Friday, Oct. 28, and was discovered this morning.

The Belmont Public Schools have canceled classes at the high school for the remainder of the day out of an abundance of caution.

Belmont Police and school staff are conducting checks of the building, though police do not believe there is a credible threat.

The incident remains under investigation.

This marks the second time the school has been shut down due to a bomb threat. On May 11, 2022, the school received a phone call before the school day began that a bomb was located in the building. None was found. The next day, a 39-year-old New Hampshire man was arrested for allegedly making the threat.

Rink Committee Scramble To Reduce/Explain Project’s $41.4M Price Tag Before Going Before Select Board

Photo: The interior fo the proposed rink in Belmont

In an announcement that caught the Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee by surprise, the design team and owner’s project manager presented the long-awaited price tag to build a new 48,800 sq.-ft. skating rink and athletic/recreation center adjacent to Harris Field on Concord Avenue.

What surprised the members was the estimated cost: a whopping $41.4 million, roughly $7 million more than the highest point of the $28 million to $34 million range the committee first estimated a final cost would be back in July.

The news, coming six weeks before the Nov. 8 general election in which voters will vote on a debt exclusion to pay for the project, had a number of members worried the cost estimate could scare off voters from supporting the rink on the Nov. 8 ballot.

“If we came under $30 million, this meeting would be all roses and sunshine,” said Owner’s Project Manager Tom Gatzunis of CHA. “But that’s the reality.”

The committee will meet at a hastily called noontime meeting on Friday, Oct. 1, to discuss the next steps as it scrambles to find ways to reduce the amount before heading to the Select Board on Monday, Oct. 3, for a review of the project.

Project architects Ted Galante and Gatzunis presented to the committee an overview of expenses at Wednesday’s meeting, going step by step to lay out each component of the construction phase.

The construction cost is $20.5 million, which is slightly higher than what was estimated in July. Add $3.7 million in liability insurance, construction management fees, and general conditions costs. The line items that rocketed the price were design and OPM contingencies and a reserve for escalating costs totaling $13.8 million. Tag on $1.5 million for hazardous removal associated with the demolition of the White Field House, improvements to parking, and roof solar panels; the price comes in at $36.6 million. Finally, assorted soft costs such as paying the firms, administrative work, and installing benches at $4.7 million, you come up with a total of $41.4 million.

Galante said his firm has hired Talevi and Haesche, a construction cost estimating consulting firm, for the past 14 years, and its budget has been “consistently on target with its estimates.”

“Nobody likes the number. I get it; it’s expensive,” said Galante.

See a chart of the costs below

Reaction to the announcement ranged from dread to defiance, as the new figure was well beyond what the leaders of the Building Committee had presented to the public as their best guess

“I see everyone rocking and rolling in their seats, twisting and turning and trying to grasp this whole thing,” said member and former Belmont High School Boys’ Hockey Coach Dante Muzzioli.

Some critics were blunt about the news.

“My biggest concern [is] we’re coming out with a number that is just too high,” said Tom Caputo, the select board representative to the committee.

“It is well beyond the high end of the range that we’ve talked about with the Select Board and well beyond where the community has already started to engage in the discussion,” said Caputo. The reason the select board approved placing the debt exclusion on the November ballot was the assumption that the final cost would be inside the range presented by the committee. “I think this number is bordering on unworkable.”

Will the community wrap its arms around the rink?

While not criticizing the process or the design team’s assumptions, member Muzzioli told the committee that “we really got to get a number that this community can wrap their arms around.” But after speaking to supporters who were waiving on their commitment for a rink at a $35 million price point, Muzzioli said the new cost “is going to be hard to swallow.”

“My personal request would be, what levers do we have in the next few days” to pull costs from the project, said Caputo. Suggestions began on strategically stripping program components from the rink, such as the high school locker rooms, and possibly removing or delaying the $1.5 million allocated to the rooftop solar array.

Chair Mark Haley and member Dynelle Long immediately questioned assumptions made by the cost estimators on the two contingency line items, specifically if the reserve should cover the entire cost of the project rather than just the construction of the project. “This just blows [up] the number,” said Haley. Savings were also suggested by taking a different look at the reserve for escalating costs pegged at 12.5 percent annually.

Both Galante and Gatzunis warned that making changes to the project at the 11th hour could backfire on the committee.

“I understand this is a big number for the town and to get this funded will be a heavy lift if it’s even possible. But we just want to be clear that we’re confident in this number and dropping it may put us in a much worse place later,” said Galante. “I think it is important to be cautious, but by being potentially overly cautious, we will put the project at risk in its own way.”

Galante noted that it has been requests by the town, schools and residents as well as the committee stepping up and taking on additional programs – such as the lack of lockers at the new Middle and High School and the loss of athletic and town space when the White Field House is removed – “that is really driving the construction cost numbers.”

Members expressed that the committee should stay firm with the plan presented Wednesday, pointing out

While not disagreeing that the designer should look to reduce cost where he can “I want us to keep in mind that there are stakeholders … who are interested in voting for this for some of the reasons we’re talking about cutting out,” said Meghan Moriarty, chair of the School Committee and its representative on the board. She noted the Recreation Department sees both the proposed second-floor community room and skate rentals as revenue producing and are very important to promote its programs at the rink.

“Although we are trying to make this palatable and fair to those in our community … we are looking for the one-plus vote to get this passed and some of those are coming from people” who are expecting locker rooms, solar panels and year round use.

Frank French Jr., the Belmont Youth Hockey Board member on the committee, said it’s important to inform and remind voters that it’s not a skating rink they will be supporting but an athletic facility.

“It is a point to explain to the community how much more they are getting than just a rink. It’s not an apples to apples comparison.”

Historic Changes Proposed For Belmont Government, Budget Process As Town Facing ’Serious Financial Difficulties’

Photo: The Collins Center’s Stephen Cirillo

Stephen Cirillo did not mince words: an on-going structural deficit will result in Belmont “facing a significant financial challenge” in the next years.

Yet Cirillo’s statement was hardly a Cassandra-like message; everyone knows it’s only so true. In fact, Cirillo has been before the town for the past four years sounding that same alarm and voters passed a Proposition 2 1/2 override in 2015 to fill the town’s coffer emptied by an earlier fiscal imbalance. But in a damning review of the town’s financial structure by the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass Boston presented before a joint hybrid meeting of the town’s major committees and boards on Wednesday, Aug. 3, the ability of Belmont’s leaders to effectively face the current fiscal precipice is hindered by an antiquated governmental framework that mutes any opportunity to come to grips with the issues.

“We are concerned that underpinning the current financial challenges is an overall organizational structure that may be unable to meet these difficulties,” said Cirillo, a staff associate at the Center.

In one example that surprised the reviewers, no where in the town’s bylaws or special acts in the 162 years since the town was incorporated was the Select Board ever declared as head of the executive branch.

“Belmont is one of the most decentralized town structures” of its size existing in the Commonwealth, said Cirillo, in which varying committees, boards and elected officials deals with certain aspects of the town’s financial landscape but not the whole “in an inherently uncoordinated fashion.”

“Individually, none of these is necessarily unusual or problematic,” reads the report, but put together, “[it] creates a significant diffusion of responsibility and authority across the executive branch” which is unusual for a large town such as Belmont.

The initial reaction from the officials and the public was an acceptance with an acknowledgment that the recommendations must be seriously considered.

“I thought the report was incredibly well done. Very comprehensive and pointed,” said Mark Paolillo, chair of the Select Board. “So I welcome these recommendations. They are fairly robust.”

Seven months and 18 interviews

The review was initiated by Town Administrator Patrice Garvin and the Select Board which received a state grant 18 months ago to look at the town’s financial structure with the Collins Center which has assisted the town previously on developing financial policy and revenue forecasts. The report took seven months to complete with 18 of 19 town officials, employees, appointees and a resident on the Center’s interview list participating in hour-long sessions between November 2021 and February 2022.

While the review spotlighted the structure of town governance, it also pointed out the lack of fiscal “best practices” in its budgetary process. Belmont has been able, so far, to stave off the financial crisis of the structural deficit in the past seven years by using non-recurring funds such as free cash and state and federal and state grants, Cirillo said that approach is simply not sustainable “and you’re rapidly approaching the financial cliff” when one-time revenue will not fill the gap between recurring revenue and expenditures. When that occurs, the only option will require cuts to essential services – education, public safety, public works – or seeking a series of overrides to balance the budget.

While the conditions creating the structural deficit remain, Cirillo presented a list of recommendations that would bring historic change to Belmont’s governmental model and budget process since the town’s founding in 1859. The 19 recommendations [see a copy at the bottom of the page] are not radical in any sense, said Cirillo. In fact, they would bring Belmont in line structurally with nearly all cities and towns in the Commonwealth including comparable towns.

Read the 40-page Financial Organization Structure Review here.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Cirillo pointed to three key recommendations as essential to put Belmont on the path towards. One is to revamp the town’s current annual budget process into a formalized financial planning cycle by adopting guidelines and best practices developed by the state’s Division of Revenues’ Department of Local Services.

Calling the new planning cycle ”very simple,” Cirillo said each player – be it the town administrator, the select board or department head – has a specific timeline to do their specific tasks and move it forward to the next step. ”And each person, each committee has their responsibility to make their decisions themselves, independent of a group meeting,” he said.

Another main recommendation is to define and strengthen the powers and duties of the Select Board and Town Administrator via new bylaws, changes in policy and through special legislation so that “everything should flow through the Select Board and the representative Town Administrator,” said Cirillo.

“We believe that the Town’s executive branch is not configured in a way that aligns authority, responsibility and accountability,” said the report.

The third recommendation is for the Select Board to take the lead in determining what policies will guide the budget process. Cirillo said once the agreed-to revenue expenditure forecast is presented and reviewed, the board would issue policy directives such as how much should be spent on capital projects, set department hiring freezes to forestall layoffs or call for draft budgets that show the effects of reductions to their assigned revenue.

”These budget guidelines would flow to the town administrator who would then send a directive to the department heads, including the school department, at the beginning of the budget process,” said Cirillo.

Once the department budgets are returned at a date certain, the Town Administrator will prepare a budget recommendation back to the Select Board and Warrant Committee both who will meet with the individual departments “which should have the right to advocate for revenue … for the services they deliver,” said Cirillo.

”Ultimately, the Select Board will make their budget recommendation to Town Meeting with the Warrant Committee making their own budget recommendation to Town Meeting,” said Cirillo, noting it’s likely those recommendations will be very close in their final numbers ”because all budgeting is incremental in nature.” If there are differences in opinion, the board and the committee should seek to reconcile their differences. If not, the Warrant Committee can bring its budget to the town’s legislative body and the Select Board can ask for an up or down vote, he said.

New finance director to lead new financial management team

Cirillo was happy to see one of the 19 recommendations has been implemented with the “excellent” hire of Jennifer Hewitt as the town’s assistant town administrator and finance director who will chair a new Financial Management Team. The team will hold regular meetings to “create opportunities to develop new ideas and analyze the impact of upcoming fiscal events … and offer early strategies to deal with anticipated areas of concern.”

Other recommendation calls for the transition of the Town Treasurer position and the Board of Assessors from elected to appointed posts as well as finding other sources of revenue from economic development that will attract an appropriate level of commercial and industrial activity.

The Warrant Committee’s Jack Weis said his concern was the school district makes up 60 percent of the town’s budget and while town and schools have worked collaboratively, “there’s no guarantee that could work and there’s been examples where that didn’t work.” While Cirillo said the school committee does control the school department, it remains a department with the town of Belmont and the Select Board and Warrant Committee are responsible for creating the budget for the town.

“They should be working with the superintendent of school … or make every effort to do so and they succeed more times than not,” said Cirillo, noting that the schools will be part of the budget process every step of the way and they will know the fiscal reality the town is working in.

”The budget is driven by the executive and the executive is the Select Board represented by the town administrator and the warrant committee represents the Town Meeting,” said Cirillo.

Much what the Collins Center is recommending is not new. In fact, many of the suggestions were first proposed in a 2011 financial management review conducted by the state’s Division of Local Services. ”We implemented a handful of recommendations, many which we did not,” said Paolillo. ”When reading the report, I was not surprised to see that a lot of the recommendations from 11 years ago were in this report.”

While Wednesday meeting was the release of the report, a subsequent public meeting on Aug. 29 will be used to plan a path forward, said Paolillo.

”We can’t make changes in a vacuum” it will need consensus of town and elected officials as well as the public ”because some of the recommendations, I would say, are maybe controversial,” said Paolillo.

”It’s not the end of the discussion,” said Paolillo. ”It’s the beginning of our deliberations. This will be an ongoing dialogue … so we need your thoughts and input.”

’Une Nouvelle Sœur’: Belmont Reaches Out To French Town To Be First Sister City

Photos: Orsay, France’s Deputy Mayor Frederic Henriot and Belmont Select Board Chair Mark Paolillo pointing out the similarities between the two municipalities during the French official’s visit to Belmont.

Bonjour, Orcéens. Bienvenue à Belmont, ville de maisons!

It’s not everyday a foreign dignitary stops in Belmont to say hello. But 198 years since the Marquis de Lafayette was feted in what is now the Town of Homes during his grand tour of the United States in 1824, a second French official arrived bearing gifts with the goal of forging a friendship between the two communities.

Frederic Henriot, the deputy mayor of Orsay, France was welcomed to Belmont by the Select Board on Monday, July 20 as the towns are taking the initial steps to establishing a Sister City relationship, which would be a first for Belmont.

A national initiative begun by President Eisenhower in the 1950s, the Sister Cities movement was created ”to boast exchanges in arts and culture, business and trade, youth and education, and community development that not only bring them friendship, but help them to tackle the world’s most pressing issues at the local level,” according to Sister Cities International.

The lineup: (from left) Belmont Select Board’s Roy Epstein, Orsay, France’s Deputy Mayor Frederic Henriot; Select Board’s Adam Dash and
Chair Mark Paolillo.

Representing his fellow Orcéens, Henriot – who just so happened to be in Boston on holiday with his family – sees many similarities between the two communities. “I think we got some things in common because we are nearby big universities … and we also got our big high school like yours,” said Henriot.

Settled 860 years before Belmont was incorporated in 1859, Orsay (pop. 16,000) is a suburb of Paris on the commuter rail line 13 miles to the southwest of the City of Lights. It’s best know as home to the Université Paris-Saclay, one of Europe’s leading science research universities (rated first in Mathematics in world rankings), which has attracted high tech firms to its R&D infrastructure.

The genesis of a potential sister city partnership started with a connection between the two high schools. As both Henriot and Belmont school officials noted, over the years several families from Orsay resided in Belmont while in Boston on business or academic assignments. On their return to belle France, “the students say, ‘yes, they are doing the same thing [in education and the arts]. So perhaps we can start something between the town and the schools together and hope we can share something,” Henriot said.

One of the Belmont educators who is initiating a cultural swap is Allison Lacasse, the high school’s band director and Francophile. She met the representatives from Orsay early in the school year when they visited Belmont’s Director of Visual and Performing Arts Arto Asadoorian to discuss a future collaboration with the performing arts departments of Belmont High and Lycée Blaise Pascal d’Orsay, initially via Zoom and later a possible school-based arts exchange.

“Arto mentioned to them that I travel to France often, and that we should consider connecting the next time I was overseas,” said Lacasse. ”I booked a trip for April break in 2022, and then contacted the folks from Orsay to potentially set up a visit.”

“We worked out a day to meet, and they planned a beautiful itinerary for me to visit Université Paris-Saclay, cultural institutions within the town of Orsay, their public middle school, and the arts conservatory (Conservatoire à Rayonnement Départemental Paris-Saclay),” she said.

Allison Lacasse, Belmont High School’s Band Director, with Herve Dole, vice-president of arts, culture, science at Universite Paris-Saclay on her April 2022 visit to Orsay, France

After these initial interactions, Board Member Adam Dash and Town Administrator Patrice Garvin recently spoke with Orsay’s Mayor David Ros. ”[The meeting] went very well and we were talking about moving forward into more of a formal relationship,” said Dash.

Henriot came prepared for the function by putting on his official l’écharpe tricolore – the tricolor sash (red, white and blue, of course!) – with silver tassels (mayors have gold tassels) before an exchange of gift baskets and books with the board accepting a guide and history to Orsay (“Sorry that’s in French,” said Henriot) with an inscription from Ros while Henriot was given Richard Betts’ opus on the naming of Belmont’s streets (“That one is in English,” said Mark Paolillo, Board Chair.)

A video presentation of Orsay was viewed by board and public with members of Belmont’s Council of Aging noting how many activities seniors are involved in the town while others pointing out the good working order Orsay’s municipal facilities were in.

And Orsay’s connection with Belmont could go beyond just cultural. As he was leaving town hall, the high school rugby coaches – who with their players were recognized by the town for winning their state championships – button hold Henriot on possible introductions with the established CA Orsay Rugby Club.

“We hope to see you in France, yes?” asked Henriot at the end of his stay.