Belmont High Will Be In Session Tuesday Despite Early Morning Fire Monday

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Photo: Crews cleaning the room where a floor cleaning machine was destroyed by fire early Monday morning, May 25.

Belmont High School will be open on Tuesday, May 26, a day after a fire in a storage room next to the school’s auditorium destroyed a floor-cleaning machine and damaged the room.

“The fire started shortly before two o’clock this morning and [the entire] company went down there for an alarm investigation,” said Belmont Fire Chief David Frizzell.

“When they got there, they found smoke coming from a custodial storage room underneath the back end of the auditorium outside the hallway that runs from the cafeteria and the music department,” said Frizzell.

In flames was a battery-operated floor maintenance machine used to clean and wash the school’s floors. It’s suspected an overheated battery caused the fire. The arriving companies stretched hose lines into the building to reach the area.

The blaze destroyed the machine and resulted in smoke and water damage to the room and a thick, smokey odor throughout in the auditorium and the immediate area, said Frizzell.

In an unrelated issue, a water pipe in the recirculation system in the adjacent room “let go” resulting in the water being shut off, he said.

By early Monday afternoon, building maintenance had opened all the doors to the school and positioned fans to clear the smoke from the premise. 

“Early this morning, the odor was overpowering. Now it’s so much better,” said Angela Braun, Belmont’s Health Department Director, as she visited the site.

Inside, members from a professional service company were scrubbing the walls and floors of the damaged room as water service was returned to the building. 

The fire comes as the town’s Capital Budget Committee prepares to replace the existing 40 year old alarm system the Fire Department said is past its useful life. The $1 million price tag to replace the system drained the entire bonding capacity provided to Capital Budget in this year’s $4.5 million Proposition 2 1/2 override. 

Belmont Selected 200th Best High School in 2015 USN&WR Rankings

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Photo: Belmont High School ranked “Best” High School by USN&WR.

The grades are in for this year and Belmont High School, once again, is receiving a gold star.

For the sixth-year running, Belmont High has been named by US News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the country, according to the latest edition of the annual review of schools across the country.

This year, the 9th-12th grade school is ranked 200 out of 21,000 public schools surveyed by the magazine, earning a “gold” medal based on students performance on state assessment tests and how well the students are prepared for college.

(Here is the full methodology on ranking schools.)

According to the ranking, seven out of ten students takes at least one Advanced Placement course while attending Belmont High, with nearly all the pupils proficient or advanced in English and math. The school does lag behind nearly 80 percent of Massachusetts high schools in terms of student/teacher ratio at 16 to 1. 

When looking at schools with “open enrollment” – in which all residents are accepted – Belmont is the second-highest ranked high school in Massachusetts, trailing only Lexington High School (194th nationally).

Taking out charter, magnet, test, academic achievement and other schools which limit admissions, Belmont is one of the few “regular” high school that can claim a top 250 ranking in this year’s report.

Belmont outpaces some of the test schools as the Concord Avenue school achieved a 103rd ranking for top schools in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.

Last year, the organization ranked Belmont 151st among all high schools nationally and third state-wide. In 2009, Belmont High was named the 100th best US public high school. 

White Knight to the Rescue: Cushing Village Partnering with Cambridge Firm

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Photo: Cushing Village on the Chinese-language website, Jei Wi. 

After more than 21 months since the town approved its construction, the developer of the multi-use Cushing Village project has apparently found his “White Knight” to help rescue the 167,000 square foot project that has been floundering since 2013. 

In a press release dated April 27, Cushing Village’s developer, Smith Legacy Partners said Cambridge-based Urban Spaces would become its “development partner” in constructing the three-building complex comprising 115 apartments, about 36,000 square feet of retail/commercial space and a garage complex with 230 parking spaces. 

Urban Spaces’ “development expertise will help to ensure that the vision we have for the Cushing Village project becomes a reality,” said Chris Starr, the managing partner of Smith Legacy Partners located in Acton.

Movement on the long-stalled project at the corner of Trapelo Road and Common Street was met with approval from town officials.

“We welcome any news suggesting that the Cushing Village project is progressing,” said Sami Baghdady, chair of the Belmont Board of Selectmen. Baghdady was chair of the Planning Board, which spent nearly 18 months reviewing Starr’s plans for the project before approving the development plans in July 2013. 

Reports have yet to reveal the exact relationship between Starr and Urban Spaces, in terms of an equity stake, or which party has the controlling interest currently or in the future. In Urban Spaces’ past developments, the still young firm – it was founded in 2005 and completed its first major development in 2010 – has a history of continuing to hold onto properties once they are completed. 

“Unlike most developers, who are there to get projects built and move on, we manage all of our own properties,” said Urban Spaces’ Vice President of Operations Jeff Hirsch.

“We’re in it for the long haul,” Hirsch said in an article in the trade journal Construction Now.

The press release announcing the partnership said Urban Spaces “acquires, develops, and manages high-end residential properties in close proximity to urban centers.” 

Town officials are not aware of the partnership arrangement between Starr and Urban Spaces. 

“I am not aware of the nature of Urban Spaces’ participation in the project, but I am sure we will learn more before the developer purchases the Cushing Square parking lot property from the town,” said Baghdady. 

The initial step forward to begin construction of the complex will be the sale of the municipal parking lot adjacent to Trapelo and Williston roads by the town to the partnership for $850,000. That sale will be completed once the new team meets a series of provisions in the development agreement, once of which is identifying the development’s financing. 

The town can expect to receive about $1.5 million in the parking lot sale and fees and permit costs. 

But despite the announcement, nothing has taken place between the partners and the town with no firm date for the beginning of construction, according to Glenn Clancy, the town’s director of Community Development. 

The partnership announcement appears to bring an end to a tumultuous 21 months for Starr – who personally sued each of the Board of Selectmen in 2010 in a dispute over the municipal parking lot – as proclamations to the town of quick start on the project quickly turned into a series of delays and broken promises. 

Stalled by financing

In January 2014, Starr made public statements that construction would begin in the late winter or the early summer with the first stores opening by the spring of 2015. Yet the next time the development team was before town officials was in March 2014 when Starr’s representatives  negotiated with the Board of Selectmen a month-to-month extension to purchase the Trapelo Road  municipal parking lot by paying a $20,000 monthly non-refundable fee.

So far, Smith Legacy has sent nearly a quarter of a million dollars into town coffers. This month, the fee is scheduled to increase to $30,000. 

Discussion within the local business circles indicated that Starr – whose previous development experience has been building a small retail development in his hometown – was finding it difficult finding the necessary development financing to come before the town to purchase the parking lot. 

In addition, Starr had parted ways with his previous development partner, Porter Square’s Oaktree Development before finalizing the building rights with the Planning Board, which many business insiders said only made it more difficult finding a financial backer.

By August 2014, Starr hired Boston Realty Advisors, a commercial deal maker, offering up Cushing Village as a “pre-sale or joint venture development opportunity.”

By the beginning of 2015, the development showed up on the leading real estate website in China, JuWai.com, where it was seeking investors willing to pay up to $8 million to become a financial partner.

While the development stalled, the project lost an opportunity to lease the anchor retail space to a grocery store Starr has longed sought, when Foodie’s Urban Market decided to rent about 30,000 square-feet in the former Macy’s site in Belmont Center. 

It appeared activity was about to occur at the development with the news that the popular laundromat E-Z Duz It at the corner of Horne Road and Common Street was closing on April 30. 

What Urban Spaces brings to the partnership is just about everything needed to start, complete and run the development. The firm, founded by Paul Ognibene (who incidentally is the chair of the Cohasset School Committee), has experience developing Cushing Village-like projects. A recently completed building is a commercial development at 159 First Street in Cambridge’s Kendall Square, totaling 126,000 square feet housing 115 apartments with an underground parking garage and ground floor retail.

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159 First Street, Cambridge, built by Urban Spaces.

Another, currently being planned on the Brighton and Brookline line on Washington Street, would include 130 units on five floors, first-floor retail space with 80 underground parking spaces. In that project, Urban Space acquired a 99-year lease on the property. 

Urban Space is also very active in the property management field and has financed projects it builds such as 7 Cameron Ave. in North Cambridge, and 30 Haven St. in Reading, built in 2012.

Coincidently, Urban Spaces partnered with Oaktree Development in the Reading development. 

“We’re in a big growth stage,” Urban Spaces’ Hirsch said in the Construction Now article.

“We’ve tripled in size in the last year and a half, and our property management business has quadrupled. We have been able to bring in some amazingly talented people with the same core values towards value, quality, and plain old hard work,” he said.

After Review, PGA Rejects Rock Meadow for Golf Tournament Parking

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Photo: Rock Meadow Conservation Land. 

A plan to use town conservation land off upper Concord Avenue to park nearly 1,000 vehicles during an upcoming professional golf tournament at Belmont Country Club in June has been abandoned, according to an email from the town’s conservation agent to a resident.

“At this point in time, the Conservation Commission will not be using Rock Meadow as a parking area for the Constellation golf tournament,” Mary Trudeau, Belmont’s conservation officer, wrote to Jeff Miller today, Tuesday, April 21.

Trudeau did not return a call from the Belmontonian for comment. 

According to Belmont Town Administrator David Kale, the PGA decided after reviewing the anticipated traffic coming to and from Belmont and the “complications of the site” on the number of vehicles onto the site, to relocate the majority of the parking to another area nearby. 

“The PGA is always looking at alternatives and they found one that suits their needs a little bit better,” said Kale.

It is unknown where the parking will be situated. 

The change comes a week after the Belmont Conservation Commission narrowly approved a conditional agreement to allow the Professional Golf Association Tour (PGA) to use approximately 11 acres of Rock Meadow Conservation Land for up to 1,000 parking spaces to support crowds attending the Constellation Senior Players Championship, one of the five “major” tournaments of the PGA’s Champions Tour for players over 50 years old.

The tournament will take place from Thursday, June 11 to Sunday, June 14 at the Belmont Country Club. 

During the debate whether to approve the conditional agreement – any fees to use the meadow would be placed in the ConCom’s Victory Garden reserve account to pay for the biannual mowing – Trudeau said the town forces her “to go begging” for grants and other funding to maintain the land as Belmont does not provide monies to the ConCom.

After news of the agreement was made public, several residents questioned the vote to place upwards of 1,000 cars in three locations on the meadow.

The PGA’s decision was welcomed news to those who felt the number of vehicles could lead to pollution and damage to nearby wetlands. 

“For both public policy and environmental reasons, I’m pleased that the decision appears to have been reversed.  Now I’d like to see the town add a budget item for meadow maintenance, and I also encourage all users to donate to the Friends of Rock Meadow,” Miller, a Precinct 1 Town Meeting member, told the Belmontonian. 

[Update] BREAKING: Fire Destroys Jimmy’s Food Mart, Damages Block of Stores

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Photo: The fire at Jimmy’s Food Mart that occurred on Saturday, April 18. 

A three-alarm fire destroyed the convenient store Jimmy’s Food Mart and damaged a business block – including a new restaurant days away from opening – at the corner of Belmont and School streets on the Watertown line.

At this time, no one is thought to have been injured in the fire that occurred just after 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 18. 

Belmont Fire Department Fire Chief David Frizzell told the Belmontonian the department received a call reporting a fire in the store.

“When we arrived, there was heavy fire in the back of the market. We don’t know if the store was open but there was someone there,” Frizzell said.

The inferno and smoke could be seen blocks away as flames reached high into the twilight sky as dozens of firefighters battled the conflagration so it would not spread to an abutting residential building at the corner of Lewis Road. Bystanders flocked to the scene as sirens and a helicopter brought attention to the scene. 

The blaze halted traffic on the normally busy thoroughfare as fire equipment from neighboring communities – including Watertown, Cambridge and Waltham – lent mutual aid, sending vehicles and the MBTA 73 bus onto Fairview Avenue. In addition, electricity was cut off in the blocks near the fire. 

“A Watertown engine arrived when we did so we had help from the start,” said Frizzell.

It took about half-an-hour to knock down most of the flames.

“Jimmy’s is heavily damaged, the roof has come in and there’s heavy fire damage. It’s a loss,” he said.

Parmjit Singh, owner of Jimmy’s, located at 297 Belmont St., was watched from across the street as his business burned.

“I put all my dreams in this town,” Singh told the Belmontonian. “A lot of people supported us. Now my business, everything is gone.”

Singh and his wife and partner, Surinder Kaur Dhaliwal, bought the shuttered site of the former Shore Drug in 2013 and opened it as a convenience store in January 2014. The store is managed by their son and business partner, Jimmy Singh.

Since opening, neighborhood reaction has been overwhelmingly favorable, with residents commending the owners for operating a clean and inviting business. Earlier this year, the Belmont Board of Selectmen rejected a beer and wine license to Singh and Dhaliwal. 

“I was here until 10 a.m. when I went home to sleep. Then my wife called to say the business was on fire,” Singh said. He does not know what the future holds for Jimmy’s.

“I want to open. I need to open. But I don’t know right now,” he said.

The fire caused heavy smoke and water damage to the other retail establishments on the block, said Frizzell. The businesses including Shine on Salon, Parmagian & Marinelli Law Office, Dr. Edward J. Burns Optometrist, Hemmingway Tailoring-Alterations, and a new eatery, “Tony G’s Barbecue,” in the former location of Gustazo Cuban Restaurant at 289 Belmont St. It was reported to open soon with new furniture and fixtures already installed.  

The fire is currently under investigation by the Belmont Fire and Belmont Police departments as the Massachusetts Fire Marshall was also at the scene, said Frizzell.  

“We’ll be here for the rest of the night. There’s pockets of fire we still need to get to. There’s quite a bit of work ahead of us,” he said. 

ConCom Approves Parking on Rock Meadow for Major Golf Tournament

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Photo: The location on Rock Meadow where parking will be located for a golf tournament in June.

The Belmont Conservation Commission narrowly approved a conditional agreement to allow the Professional Golf Association Tour (PGA) to use approximately 11 acres of Rock Meadow Conservation Land off upper Concord Avenue for up to 1,000 parking spaces to support a major golf tournament taking place at Belmont Country Club during the second week of June.

The 3-2 vote came after an hour in which the commission members and Conservation Agent Mary Trudeau debated whether the land – never used for such an activity – would be damaged by vehicular pollution or whether a “yes” vote would set a bad precedence versus the commission’s real need for outside funding to continue the upkeep of the land and the nearby Victory Gardens.

“I am literally begging to find grants and money as the [Town Meeting] doesn’t give [the Conservation Commission] a penny,” said Trudeau, in an impassioned plea to the board to pass the proposal.

The approval came with the proviso that all fees for using the meadow will be placed in the Conservation Commission’s Victory Garden Revolving Account to provide money to mow the meadow.

With the Commission’s approval, the PGA and the town – through its Town Administration Office – will begin negotiations on a contract that will include both fees for parking and for other town services. In addition, the PGA has made considerable charitable contributions to municipalities and

The PGA is scheduled to meet with the Belmont Police Department on Thursday, April 16, to discuss required traffic control and details.

Rock Meadow is 70 acres of public conservation land that includes a meadow, wetlands, streams and woods. It is a part of the Western Greenway, a corridor of undeveloped green spaces that connects the towns of Belmont, Waltham and Lexington. It is a favorite place for hiking, birding, biking, picnicking, cross-country skiing, and community gardening.

The meeting began with a presentation from the PGA’s Joe Rotellini and Geoff Hill to give a highlights of the Constellation Senior Players Championship, one of the five “major” tournaments for older (those on the PGA’s Champions Tour for players over 50 years old) but still very popular golfers such as Bernhard Langer, Tom Watson, Fred Couples and Vijay Singh.

Rotellini, who oversees the day-to-day operation of the tournament, told the commissioners that people will come out to see the marque players and it’s critical to have parking in the area. He stated that the PGA was also in negotiations with other nearby communities for parking.

As part of its extensive management plan, the PGA will require parking from Tuesday, June 9 to Sunday, June 14 with the number of vehicles “ramps up” during the four days of the actual tournament, starting on Thursday, June 11, said Rotellini.

The temporary parking lot will begin to accept cars at approximately 7:30 a.m. with most vehicles departing by sunset. During the week, Winter Street from Concord Avenue to Route 2 will be one-way towards Lexington.

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The parking plan will be laid out by a professional management firm hired by the PGA. Under the plan envisioned by the Tour, a pair of temporary curb cuts will be placed along Concord Avenue near the intersection of Winter Street (see image) that will allow a one-way circular loop where a shuttle bus will pick up attendees and deliver them to the country club. The cut will require moving large rocks that occupy the spaces.

“It is a temporary roadway that may require stones if it rains,” said Trudeau.

That portion of the North Meadow will be the location of the largest of three parking areas, used by 700 vehicle spaces from June 9 to 14. The activity will likely require moving a proposed sheep grazing site. (see image)

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The second lot, expected to be used from June 12 to June 14, is what most residents recognize as Rock Meadow adjacent to the Mill Street entrance and the Victory Gardens. Up to 250 vehicles can use this location.

A final, and smallest, parking area will be located to the south of the first two sites, accompanying 150 spaces. Rotellini said if it does rain during the event, it’s unlikely to use the second and third areas as crowd numbers will be dampened.

In addition to setting up and roping off the parking areas, the PGA is insured up to $10 million, is set to acquire all permits, will bring in public restrooms and trash containers which will be cleaned at the end of each day, and have the necessary number of shuttle buses available to allow for 10 minutes between trips.

Rotellini said he and Trudeau have had discussions on repairing and restoring the meadow for any damage beyond the normal wear and tear expected from the activity that week. He said the property will be video recorded before the land is used to resolve any problems.

“We are the PGA tour. We do things the right way,” said Rotellini, saying the PGA hopes to create a working relationship with Belmont so when the tour hopefully returns – the Senior Players Championship will be in other locations in 2016 and 2017 – “we can rekindle those partnerships.”

Trudeau said she had discussed the proposal with Belmont Town Counsel George Hall, who judged that there didn’t appear to be a conflict using conservation land, granted to the town via state charter, for this activity.

Commissioner Margaret Velie asked if it wouldn’t be prudent to request a review with the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs “because it is conservation land.”

In addition, she expressed concern for restoring the land and the possible release of pollution by the vehicles while on the meadow for up to six days.

Following on Velie’s line, David Webster said Rock Meadow was created “for passive recreation uses,” and by approving the plan, “how do tell our neighbors they can’t use the meadow for another uses?”

“This will set a bad precedence. What’s next? Soccer fields? Dog parks?” he said.

But Commission Chair James Roth said he didn’t see any long-term problems from having the vehicles on the site as the “hard and firm” soil is similar to farmland “just that we’re growing grass.”

For Trudeau, the concerns of conservation and possibly opening the area for other activity were trumped by the desperate financial state the commission finds itself. She noted that Belmont is an outlier from surrounding communities as it does not fund the Conservation Commission – what she called “our zero budget” – to pay for the necessary upkeep of the land.

“We’re in a tight spot, and there is no willingness by Town Meeting to fund us,” said Trudeau.

The PGA’s Rotellini reiterated that through the Tour’s “charitable side” that gives to locales where events take place, a donation to fund two years of necessary mowing – approximately $2,000 – could be forthcoming.

“That’s what interests us,” he said.

When it appeared that the commissioners were evenly split 2-2 on the measure – with Miriam Weil joining Roth willing to vote to approve the plan – Commissioner Charles Chiang arrived and immediately voted “yes” to move the plan forward.

The plan now goes to the town where a contract is expected by April 28.

Town Election 2015 in Belmont: Updated Through the Day

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Photo: Tom Martin voting for the first time. 

7:45 p.m.: Precinct 8, the Winn Brook precinct: 1.200 ballots cast. 60 percent participation with many younger voters – 7 at booths when I was there – coming in.

7:30 p.m.: The heavy rains held off and people have been coming in steady to the eight polling stations in Belmont. Not many signs around town although Dawn MacKerron and Bill Trabilcy were in Cushing Square with a big “No” sign, receiving a long horn blast from a late-90s Cadillac with State tags.

2:20 p.m.: The election is just past mid-way and the numbers at the eight precincts indicate a good deal of interest in the contested Selectman’s race and the Prop 2 1/2 ballot question. 

Precinct wardens said the voters “have been really out there,” (Precinct 6), polling stations are “busy constantly,” (Precinct 3), activity is “brisk,” (Precinct 7) with voters coming in at a “steady pace.” (precincts 1 and 8).

So here are the raw numbers between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.:

  • Precinct 1: 665
  • Precinct 2: 604
  • Precinct 3: 473
  • Precinct 4: 358
  • Precinct 5: 479
  • Precinct 6: 617
  • Precinct 7: 438
  • Precinct 8: 638

According to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, the election could reach 40 percent participation rate or about 7,500 to 8,000 voters coming out. 

1:50 p.m.: It was rough going for Tom Martin as he tried to vote at Precinct 2 in Town Hall. The Belmont High senior first attempted to leave the polling station with both the ballot and the folder in his hands when Precinct Warden Henry Kazarian steered Martin to the official voting scanner. There he attempted to insert the manilsa folder into the slot. At that point, Kazarian instructed Martin on the proper process of voting. 

Despite flubbing the process a bit, everyone in the polling station gave a Martin a round of applause as it was the first time the 18-year-old ever voted. 

“It was good, it was interesting,” said Martin, who received a handshake from Kazarian on his way out. 

In the second-floor lobby, Martin said he wanted to cast his ballot because of the override.

“At Belmont High School, there has been a lot of talk about this [override] vote among the students,” said Martin, a co-captain of this year’s boys’ basketball team and player on Rugby. “We know the election is important for the future of the high school.” 

“And now I’m 18, I should have my voice heard,” he said. 

Noon: It was suppose to be raining by now but … nada. 

10 a.m.: So where are the sign holders? At the Beech Street Center, of course, where precincts 3 and 5 are located. And we found Selectman candidate Jim Williams with his campaign manager shaking hands and talking to Precinct 5 Town Meeting incumbent Frank Lombardo and former town employee  Austin ‘Butchie’ Bennett holding the fort for Andy Rojas.

“I have my coat so I’ll be here even if it rains,” said Butchie.

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8:45 a.m.: A lonely figure at Precinct 2: Jim Gammell, a member of the leadership team for the Nos, poll watching. Will have to take a look around town to see if anyone else is out and about looking over lists of voters. Standing outside the Center’s parking lot, 

8:15 a.m.: Here are the first data dump of the day; the total number of absentee ballots received as of yesterday (there’s one more rush of ballots around 5 p.m.) and by precinct:

Total received/sent:

604/702

  • Precinct 1: 123
  • Precinct 2: 91
  • Precinct 3: 61
  • Precinct 4: 42
  • Precinct 5: 64
  • Precinct 6: 104
  • Precinct 7: 40
  • Precinct 8: 79

7:30 a.m.: Belmont’s Town Election 2015 gets underway under a gray overcast and cool conditions with some good voter participation at Precincts 1 (at the Belmont Public Library) and 8 (Winn Brook School) with a dozen voters waiting to enter Precinct 1 and more than 20 residents voting in the first 10 minutes at 8. At Town Hall, the level is described as “brisk.” 

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One thing missing? Sign holders at the three precincts visited. Just one at 1 and 8, both with “Yes for Belmont” signs.

Editorial: Cast Aside Politics and Fear, Vote Yes for the Override

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Photo: The Yes campaigners. 

The Belmontonian endorses a “yes” vote on Question 1, the Proposition 2 1/2 override measure on the ballot to be decided on Tuesday, April 7. 

This question allows residents the opportunity to follow “the better angels of our nature,” when we can set aside manufactured tension and fear and replace it with good, positive, constructive acts.

The proposed override was born after a year-long gestation by the Financial Task Force of sober, careful analysis and facts of the financial constraints facing the community. The task force – including Selectman Mark Paolillo, Town Treasurer Floyd Carman, Town Administrator David Kale, School Committee Chair Laurie Slap, Capital Budget Chair Anne Marie Mahoney and Charles Laverty III of the Board of Assessors, all respected for their dedication and work for Belmont – held dozens of open and public meetings and forums, requested information and data and worked cooperatively with all.

The task force’s final report recommended the Belmont Board of Selectmen call for a $4.5 million multi-year override to both stems the rapidly growing funding deficit due to skyrocketing enrollment and rapidly increasing expenses in our schools. In a vote called a “brave decision,” the Selectmen unanimously approved the recommendation in February.

But just as vital as supplying funding, the override secures up to three, but likely many more years of stability for Belmont schools. While not ideal or even desired, assured level-funding will provide educators over the long-term, Town Meeting and our state legislators the time to commit to fundamental improvements and other necessary changes to retain the outstanding reputation of the schools, our community’s greatest resource.

The override will exact a burden onto Belmont property owners, about $650 on the medium valued house assessed at $847,000. No one should say it’s “only” $162 on the quarterly bill; that is a hardship to some.

But it is time Belmont residents face the fact the community has been attempting to run a modern, urban municipality on the cheap. Belmont has one of the lowest average tax bills in the state and an extremely low cost-per-pupil expenditures (coupled with one of the highest student-to-teacher ratios). It’s little wonder the town is a laughing stock for it’s disgraceful roads, but that happens when you won’t pay an adequate amount for their upkeep. The band Midnight Oil spoke to what Belmont needs to realize: “The time has come/To say fair’s fair/to pay the rent/to pay our share.”

There are worthy opponents to the override. Former Selectman Anne Marie Mahoney, a task force member, is opposing the ballot question as she takes the lonely role of sponsoring the large ticket capital projects – a new High School, police station, Department of Public Works complex to name a few. Her cause requires Town officials and Town Meeting to be acknowledged and brought fully into the fold of long-term planning.

The same can not be said for the “Vote No on Ballot Question 1 Committee,” a tiny renegade group from the Warrant Committee, made up of members past and present, supporting its campaign with little more than empty phrases and promises.

The No committee claims its complaint with the override supporters is fiscal, the Financial Task Force’s careful analysis on revenue assumptions by well-respected town members is wrong, the recommendation producing a “mega” override. All that is needed is to fill the announced $1.7 million deficit the schools will encounter in the next fiscal year.

The Nos has no completing reports to back its claim the money is out there; they counter with “trust us.”

What should take every resident aback is the solution being proposed from the Nos if the override is defeated; this group of non-elected residents will come before the elected Board of Selectmen with their “list” of residents and town members they hope to see on an unelected “budget committee” which will solve the fiscal issues facing the town, all within “three to six” weeks.

The questions that arise with this “solution” are numerous and unnerving:

  • Will the “budget committee” be open to all or closed to a few?
  • Who will lead it?
  • Will it have any authority?
  • Shouldn’t it be approved by Town Meeting before it starts?
  • Will the committee be subject to the open meeting laws?
  • What if the solution from the “budget committee” differs from the renegade Warrant Committee members?

The No committee is making it up as it goes. Its solution is not based on democracy, but power.

And, to misquote Hamlet, therein lies the rub: The No Committee’s mission is political, not financial. The amount could have been $4 million, $3 million or $2 million, the Nos would have pegged the override with the puerile label “mega.”

But the prime target for the Nos is the schools and the “hardcore” union representing Belmont teachers. It wouldn’t surprise anyone that the Nos have circulated lists of teachers pay prompting one supporter wondering at candidates’ night paying a kindergarten teacher $90,000. Several times, one member of the group have suggested that the union must be made to heal to lead the town into a financial nirvana. In addition, by providing annual funding rather than a long-term approach, the school district will be beholden to the “budget committee.”

If the Nos had declared its agenda up front, they would be seen as honest brokers, rather than a very small fraternity of political operatives.

With only seven contributors and a campaign paid by a single source, the Nos remain a powerful opponent, playing to a substantial number of residents who view Belmont as the same small town of several generations past, those who believe providing a “good enough” education – in a world that punishes those who are only “good enough” – is what is required, while nervously viewing their own finances as economic forces beyond everyone’s reach ever change.

We, Belmont, must reject the fear and mistrust being pushed by the No committee.

We, Belmont, must be for something, rather than be opposed to stability and taking responsibility for the true cost of running the town.

We, Belmont, must grab the opportunity to move forward with facts and realism rather than be led back with half truths and the empty “trust us.”

Vote for the override.

One-Woman Show: Financial Report Shows Allison Self-Financing ‘No’ Effort

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Photo: Elizabeth Allison.

Move over, Koch brothers and Tom Steyer; you may think you have a big influence on politics, but you guys have nothing on Elizabeth Allison.

According to a campaign finance report filed March 30 with the Belmont Town Clerk, the Chair of the “Vote No on Ballot Question 1” committee has all but self-financed the effort to defeat the Proposition 2 1/2 override before voters on April 7.

The report which is filed eight days before the election with the Town Clerk shows Allison contributing $5,000 of the $5,640 given to the committee – about 91 cents of every dollar taken in – which saw a grand total of six residents donate to the “No” committee since mid-March.

Of the committee’s leadership, both Campaign Treasurer Raffi Manjikian or Robert Sarno failed to contribute to the fund (although Sarno’s wife, Judith, put in $100) while Jim Gammill pony upped $10.

In addition, Allison made two “in-kind” contributions totaling $1,642.62, raising her total tally to $6,642.62.

On the other side of the ballot question, the “Yes for Belmont” Committee shows a far greater depth in the number of contributors and total money raised. Nearly 80 residents gave less than $50 and 66 more than $50 for a total of $17,385 raised from more than 145 residents since Jan. 1. On top of an opening balance of approximately $6,500, the “Yes” side had a little more than $23,900 on hand.

Nearly all the money raised on both sides have gone to print firms to create yard signs and other promotional material.

Going into the critical final week of the race, the “No” committee was running on empty with less than $200 in reserves while the “Yes” had $13,268.

Over in the Selectman’s race, the incumbent Andy Rojas flexed his money-raising muscles by taking an impressive $21,000 from about 80 contributors, which added to a running balance in his war chest of $11,300, gave the current chair of the Board just about $32,300 to use in his race with challenger Jim Williams. Contributors included members of the Planning Board, former colleagues Ralph Jones and Liz Allison, the School Committee’s Lisa Fiore and former Boston Herald business writer Cosmo Macero.

Interestingly, while not contributing to the “No” committees coffers, Manjikian ($150) and Gammill ($200) ante upped for Rojas.

In the final eight day, Rojas was sitting on just over $19,000 for any last minute push.

First-time candidate Williams found about a quarter of the number of residents – and some out-of-towners – contributing as the Glenn Road resident raised $6,055 since mid-January. Unlike the “No” campaign, Williams has been able to spend very little over that time and can use his remaining $5,359 to impress voters in the final week of the campaign.

Heated Election Emotions Spurs Plea for Civility from Town Clerk, Top Cop

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Photo: Ellen Cushman.

For the past few weeks, Belmont’s Town Clerk Ellen Cushman has been receiving an increasing number of calls, emails and personal visits from residents on the same topic, the Proposition 2 1/2 override on the Town Election ballot set for April 7.

But the residents were not seeking information about the Question 1. Rather, they showed Cushman examples of vitriol from neighbors or strangers on what side they took on Question 1: angry personal attacks in email and notes left on their property, political signs taken or destroyed, biting comments on social media.

“They’re upset that people are attacking their character for a political position,” Cushman told the Belmontonian Thursday afternoon, April 2.

“It’s been very bad tempered and personal,” she added.

After hearing from Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin that his department has received similar messages, Cushman decided it was time to act by sending an extraordinary email to Town Meeting Members, elected officials, and town department heads to call for a return to civility in the election season.

Under the subject line, “The Community of Belmont – We All Share Responsibility,” (see the email below) Cushman spoke of “rising tide of negative emotion and malicious deeds and speech” against residents on the override question. Declaring she “abhor(s)” the actions taking place, Cushman is calling for those receiving the email to ask anyone they see participating in such acts to stop them and have the people return to “respectful discourse.”

The note is the first time the long-time Belmont resident can recall a town official requesting residents to remain civil during an election. Heated campaigning is not new to Belmont, infamous for the poison pen letters sent days before elections impugning the character of residents seeking town office.

(The Belmontonian has recently deleted Facebook and website comments for phrases and words that questioned poster’s characters.)

After speaking to McLaughlin, Cushman felt the underlying current of ugliness that “people were afraid to have conversations” about the election.

“It reached s a point where someone needed to notify residents of what’s happening,” said Cushman, hoping that residents realize they will still be neighbors on April 8.

While most of her focus is on the day of elections, Cushman said her mandate also is to make sure residents have the right to participate in the election process.

“Honestly, all I’m attempting to say is just be respectful,” she said.

The email from Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman:
As the chief election official of the Town of Belmont, and in consultation with the Richard McLaughlin  our Chief of Police, I must call your attention to a rising tide of negative emotion and malicious deeds and speech regarding the Override, April 7th .   I have the utmost respect for the many volunteers who are active and willing to help educate our voters on this important issue, but I also realize that people cast their secret ballots for a myriad of reasons that I must also respect. Belmont needs the help of all of our elected and appointed officials to get back on track.  Some of the more outrageous examples of this problematic behavior:
  • Vicious emails have been sent to individual residents, stating that other residents “hate” the person who has announced an intention to vote a certain way
  • Political signs on private property, both Yes and No, have been removed
  • Handwritten notes containing aggressive, distressing language have been attached to political signs on private property
  • Facebook posts, online commentary and blogs that question the integrity of an individual volunteer rather than examine the person’s political stance
As a lifelong resident of Belmont, I’m not proud of those behaviors, I abhor them. They do not send a positive message to our children and neighbors; they send a message of personal attack, harassment and disdain.
Belmont is just over four square miles in area containing 25,000 residents. On April 8th, that won’t change. What I ask of you as one of Belmont’s elected and appointed officials is simple:
 
When you hear or see someone denigrating or criticizing our Belmont neighbors, stop them! Ask them instead to participate in a respectful discourse, not a campaign of hate but one of cooperation. Whatever the outcome on Tuesday night, Belmont will continue to rely on our many volunteers to keep our town strong and a wonderful place to live.  Let’s start displaying that respect right now.