Annual Town Meeting Warrant Set By Select Board, All In One Session With A Hybrid Twist

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Photo: The town prepares for the annual Town Meeting

It’s said that you can’t tell who the players are without a scorecard, and you can’t tell what’s going on at Town Meeting without the warrant.

Now, the members and public are all set to attend. On Thursday, April 10, the Belmont Select Board voted unanimously to sign off on this year’s annual Town Meeting beginning on May 5. Other dates for the Town Meeting include May 7, 12, 14, 19, and 21.

This year’s meeting will set precedence by taking place over a single, three-week session, as opposed to the decade-long bifurcated assembly, when the meeting was divided into a May general session followed in June by the budget articles.

“We’re entering into an experiment, and it is an experiment to do a single session,” said Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne, who said the final number of articles could reach 26. She said the change came down to a pair of considerations: A budget segment scheduled in mid-June prevented the town from closing its books in a timely fashion on June 30. The second reason is to “ease pressure on people’s schedules in June.” 

This year, we will also see the introduction of a hybrid meeting that allows members to attend online. The option in attending was a chief election promise of Mike Crowley, the newly-elected Town Moderator.
The select board has supported and will support a hybrid town meeting, said Dionne, noting it will be a “very ambitious agenda” as it will take place with a new town IT director, Chris McClure, and Crowley in place. While Belmont will employ a mixed meeting, nearby towns, such as Arlington and Needham, remain on-site only. 

But Dionne said her one caveat in supporting the hybrid meeting will be if the members believe the benefit of not meeting in June is worth the pain in May. “So this is a one-year experiment.”

The list of articles before members includes appropriations, the first of two parts in repairing the Chenery Upper Elementary school roof, the seven Community Preservation Committee projects, a lengthy flood plain district zoning bylaw, and a slew of articles that appear every year on the warrant.

Article 16 is to approve a four-year term to finance the purchase of iPads, which the school district has targeted. Dionne noted there had been social media “chatter” questioning the “found money” as any extra one-time funds should be made available for the fiscal year 2026 town budget, which is anticipated to increase by 2.5 percent as opposed to the 5.8 percent rise in the school’s budget. Dionne explained that the money was found during a “clean-up” of the town’s book from check-offs on residents’ property tax bills directed to schools. 

“So in some ways, it is found money. But it was originally meant to be spent on school projects,” said Dionne. 

A significant article before the approximate 290 Town Meeting members is senior tax relief, an important pledge by the Select Board to ease the tax burden on homeowners after voters passed the Proposition 2 1/2 override in 2024.

“The very diligent [senior tax relief] working group had brought us a number of articles that I think we all enthusiastically support,” said Dionne, including a mix of volunteering at town departments and donations by residents to assist qualified elder homeowners. 

The senior tax relief will be discussed in a special town meeting within the regular meeting, as the town legal counsel requires a little more time to discuss last-minute changes. 

Another article in the special will be to release the overlay funds within the assessor’s department. This reserve budget line has built up over time so that some of the funds can be released to the town for one-time bills. 

A single citizen’s petition will come before Town Meeting requesting the Select Board to file a Home Rule Petition with the state legislature granting Belmont the authority to prohibit or restrict the use of second-generation phosphides to control rats. If passed, it would allow a future Town Meeting to prohibit the poisoning by the town. Sponsored by the Belmont Citizen Forum, the article points out the evidence rodents that ingest the poison can harm and kill predators who feed on rats. Currently, the town’s departments have rejected the use of poison.

The Select Board will likely bring a late attempt to bring a second citizens’ petition to ease restrictions and increase the number of liquor licenses to stimulate business activity in the fall special town meeting.

Belmont Town Election: Yates Takes Select Board Race, Crowley Squeaks In As Moderator, Donner Elected To Library Trustees

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Photo: Tyler Yates arrives at Town Hall to hear he was elected to the Belmont Select Board

With more than three of four Belmont voters deciding to take a pass, there was a good chance a few surprises were in store from the 2025 annual Town Election held April 1, April Fool’s Day.

Despite contested races in four town-wide offices, voter participation was just 23.6 percent—the lowest numbers since 2018, when a minuscule 16.5 percent came out to cast ballots, which made the landscape ripe for challengers. In the town-wide races, a long-serving elected official was edged out by just 10 votes by a rival who lost his bid last year by a wide margin. At the same time, a venerable incumbent was outed by a candidate who was unceremoniously dumped from her seat on another committee just five years ago.

Results of the 2025 Belmont Town Elections can be found here

In the race for Select Board, Planning Board Chair Taylor Yates topped each of Belmont’s eight precincts to capture the seat vacated by Roy Epstein, defeating another first-time candidate, Economic Development Committee Chair Paul Joy, 2,533 to 1,738. Several observers noted the similarities of the pair – both relatively recent residents with young children (Yates welcoming a newborn last year) who ran on their accomplishments and new vision – and how this race represents a generational “changing of the guard” in town leadership.

“I feel extraordinary gratitude to all the voters, to my campaign team, the volunteers, the donors, and my family. A lot of people came together to make tonight happen,” said Yates, who witnessed his victory in the packed second-floor lobby of Town Hall. Candidates, observers, four or five children, and a crew from Belmont Media Center came to hear the traditional reading of results just after 9 p.m.

Yates said his positive vision of Belmont’s future brought out voters. “Our best days are ahead of us if we have leaders willing to push forward on our biggest priorities,” he said.

In a bit of an upsetting of the political apple cart, former School Committee member Micheal Crowley in his second go around for the post, squeaked by four-term Select Board member Mark Paolillo by the razor thin of margins, a mere 10 votes, 2,133 to 2,123. While both candidates ran on making changes to the office held for nearly two decades by Mike Widmer, Crowley said he believed voters saw him as the greater reformer.

“I have a great deal of work ahead of me [because] I promised a lot of change,” said Crowley, specifically on the focus of the job, “that the moderator will be much more engaged with the community.” One concrete example will be establishing a citizens’ advisory board and a commitment to virtual Town Meetings.

It was a good night for former School Committee members as Tara Donner placed second in a tight three-way race for two seats on the Board of Library Trustees, defeating long-time member Mike McCarthy, who placed third. Donner lost her school committee seat in the 2021 post-pandemic lockdown election, in which voters locally and nationally placed their frustrations onto incumbents. However, the public school educator and Town Meeting member since 2007 wanted to be involved in town government. With her background teaching English, “libraries have always been a place I love, where I’ve taken my kids and where I have been a heavy user.”

As with the Select Board race, Donner believed “people are just interested in what the next generation of Belmont leaders might bring to the library.” She said that once the new library building opens in early 2026, “we also need to have the programming and have the resources to fill it with the services that people are looking for in Belmont.” Joining Donnor on the committee will be Edward Barker, the candidate who topped the field, in which 142 votes separated the three candidates.

Talking about the school committee, that group now has two new members with newcomers Zehra Abid-Wood, who scored an impressive 45 percent of the total ballots cast with 3,213 votes, and Brian Palmer, each winning a three-year term.

The final competitive race saw Julie LeMay easily securing a fourth term on the Board of Health, defeating first-time candidate Michael Todd Thompson. Thompson also ran for a seat on the School Committee.

The big surprise on the Town Meeting ledger was the number of seats that write-ins will fill: In Precinct 3, Wendy Etkind, Ashley Addington, and Constantin Lichi won three-year terms via write-in votes, while Andrea Carrillo-Rhodes and Franceny Johnson will be attending Town Meeting as write-ins. And in Precinct 7, Mary Rock got 26 of her friends and neighbors to write in her name to secure the 12th spot on the ballot.

Among Town Meeting incumbents, Marie Warner placed 13th in Precinct 6 despite garnering 388 votes, which would have comfortably secured a seat in the seven other precincts.

Write-in Sally Martin took the one-year seat in Precinct 1, while over at Precinct 7, James Reynolds will need to choose whether to select a three-year or a two-year term, as he secured that final spot for a three-year seat and topped the field for a two-year term.

Don’t Be Fooled, Vote! Town Election 2025: Tuesday, April 1; All You Need To Know

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Photo: Go out and vote!

This is not an April Fool’s prank: Belmont’s annual Town Election is Tuesday, April 1!

Registered voters may cast their ballots in person only on Election Day; polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the following polling locations: 

A list of the candidates for town-wide office and Town Meeting, can be found in the Belmont League of Women Voters guide.

  • Precinct One: Beth El Temple, Zonis Auditorium, 2 Concord Ave.
  • Precinct Two: Belmont Town Hall, Select Board Room, 455 Concord Ave.
  • Precinct Three: Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Precinct Four: Daniel Butler School Gym, 90 White St.
  • Precinct Five: Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Precinct Six: Belmont Fire Headquarters,  299 Trapelo Rd.
  • Precinct Seven: Burbank School Gym, 266 School St.
  • Precinct Eight: Winn Brook School Gym, 97 Waterhouse Rd., enter from Cross Street.

If you are wondering if you are a registered voter and your voting precinct, go to the Town Clerk’s web page or phone the Town Clerk’s office at 617-993-2600.

Election results for town wide and Town Meeting races will be announced at Town Hall after the polls close and are located on the Town Clerk’s website early Wednesday morning.

Taylor Yates: Let’s Build Belmont’s Future Together

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Photo: Taylor Yates (2nd to the left) and supporters

I’m Taylor Yates, and I’m running for Belmont Select Board. I’m a homeowner, a father of three, and a small business owner.

I moved to Belmont in 2018, just like a lot of you, to make a home for my family in a community that invests in itself. Belmont’s got great schools, it’s close to Boston, and people really put down roots here. This is a town where people stay for decades and generations, and they work together to shape its future.

I dove headfirst into Belmont government. I started on the Vision21 Committee, got elected to Town Meeting, and chaired the successful ‘Yes for Appointed Treasurer’ campaign. I was appointed to the Planning Board and have since been elected Chair. Along the way, I’ve championed key initiatives: I pushed to allow restaurants by right in Belmont; got the MBTA Communities Act passed by one of the largest margins in the state; and have reformed the Planning Board to focus on planning and economic development.

I’m running for Select Board because the next three years are going to determine where we are in 10 years. There are two possible futures:

  1. We’ve run out of time and resources to deal with our thorniest issues and are forced to make some heartbreaking tradeoffs
  2. Belmont is the best it’s ever been, we’ve kept the things we love about our town, enhanced them, and added to them.

When the Select Board makes those decisions I want to be there so I can bring my energy, collaboration, and vision to the table to ensure Belmont’s best days are ahead.

As chair of the Planning Board, I secured funding for a Belmont Center overlay district, a Brighton Street overlay district, and a 10-year comprehensive plan. Our residents are hurting from tax increases and service cuts, which means we need to increase our commercial tax base, boost our small businesses, and make our Town a better place to live.

That’s a lot of work, and we wouldn’t have been able to do it six months ago. When I became Chair, I decided that the Planning Board was going to have the courage to tackle our biggest and most persistent problems. We were going to do the work necessary to give people the choice to decide if we want to move forward or not.

But that was easier said than done. The Planning Board was bogged down with a lack of processes and direction. That meant we spent too much of our time working on the wrong things. I put in a lot of hours to solve that so we can pursue this ambitious 2025 economic agenda.

That’s the kind of leader I am: I start with a vision, break it into actionable steps, and deliver results. 

I believe there’s a shared vision in this Town: a thriving, dynamic town that honors its past while embracing progress. I’ve spoken to thousands of voters in this campaign, I’ve heard you, and I want to be the leader that works with you to actually fix our problems and set us up for a brighter future.

Let’s build Belmont’s future together!

Paul Joy: My Vision For Belmont

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Photo: Paul Joy has a vision for Belmont

Belmont, I’m Paul Joy, and I’m running for Select Board because this isn’t just about me. It’s about us. On Tuesday, April 1, we get to decide what our town becomes. 

I live on Harvard Road with my wife and three kids—Thomas, Lucas, and Alexandra—who attend Chenery and Wellington every school day. My wife, Yuan, is an immigrant and also teaches at the Belmont Co-Op Nursery School. We’re raising our family here, facing the same rising costs—taxes, rent, small business pressures—that is felt across our community all feel. I’ve heard your stories on porches, at games, in shops, over the phone, and they’ve shaped me. Together, we can build a Belmont that thrives for all of us.

What have I done for us? 

  • As Chair of the Economic Development Committee, I’ve fought to fill empty storefronts, bringing jobs and boosting our tax base to ease our burdens: supporting our schools and services. But it’s more than that. 
  • I chaired the Co-Op Nursery School Board, raising funds to keep tuition affordable and give our teachers bonuses, because early education sets our kids up for life. 
  • I’ve coached our kids on Belmont’s soccer fields, and helped organize practices and clinics at the same time. 
  • On the education side, I can’t tell you how proud I am of the work-based learning virtual internship program that Belmont High School students have available to them.  

My family’s roots trace back to Thomas Joy, who built Boston’s first Town House, a place that literally helped shape American democracy. And as an immigrant family today, we bring that legacy forward, proving Belmont is stronger when we embrace our diversity.

What sets me apart? 

  • I don’t just nod along—I ask hard questions and stand firm for what we need. 
  • When others accept “that’s how it’s always been,” I push for better, not quick, fixes, but durable solutions.
  • I’ve seen us struggle with a cost of living crisis, seeing seniors stretched thin, small businesses balancing rent and red tape, and renters and families priced out. I’ve demanded we rethink how we grow and that includes applying every year for every competitive grant opportunity that we can.  
  • I’ve called for a town voice to unite our business owners, amplifying their ideas to keep our downtown vibrant, not drowned out by endless construction or big chains. We need growth that works for us, not against us – in places like Brighton Street and Cushing Square, and South Pleasant St not just Belmont Center – where we can sustain it without losing our charm.


We’ve got a vision worth fighting for: a Belmont where our commercial tax base grows so our wallets don’t shrink, where our kids learn in strong schools, and our seniors stay in homes they’ve built. I’ve got the experience, as a teacher, consultant, and coach, to make it real, tackling problems with data, grit, and heart. I’ve always sought zoning changes with our entire community in mind, cut red tape like parking, and listened to you. We can partner with our shop owners, not steamroll them, and plan finances that last, not just patch holes.

Some say we should settle, that change is too messy. I say we’re tougher than that. We’re the town that shovels each other’s driveways, cheers our kids on, and keeps our shops alive. We don’t back down, we rise. My ancestor Thomas Joy didn’t just build a building; he built a place for us to stand up and demand more. I’m here to do the same, not for me, but for us. On April 1, we choose: a Belmont that builds, grows, and thrives together.

So, Belmont, let’s do this. Grab your neighbor, your friend, your family—head to the polls on April 1, and Vote Joy. Check out joyforbelmont.com to see our plans—because this is our campaign. We’re not just voting for a person; we’re voting for us: a town where we all belong, prosper, and shine.

Let’s make it happen, together. Thank you.

First Look: Hotels in Belmont Center? Well, It Could In Latest Overlay District Draft

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Photo: The “new” Belmont Center? (all images: Able.City)

A hotel in the heart of Belmont Center? Or one across Concord Avenue from the new library? How about a series of three-and-a-half story residential and retail buildings hugging Leonard Street and Claflin Street where the municipal parking lot currently is located?

Presented to the Planning Board’s Tuesday, March 11 meeting was a series of architectural drawings picturing the latest aspirational version of the future of Belmont’s business and retail center if the annual Town Meeting passes this latest draft incarnation of the Belmont Center Overlay District

As one observer said after the meeting, “This isn’t want will be, rather, what it could be.”

The night’s highlight was a first draft “look-see” from consulting firm Able.City just how a proposed overlay district would transform Belmont Center from its current tired 60s traffic-based facade into a mix of Tudor- and Colonial-styled multi-story housing and storefronts that comes right out of the New Urbanism playbook.

Able.City’s leading philosophy and design ethic in rebuilding the center is that “the street is very important. The public realm is very important,” said Belmont Planner Chris Ryan. “There is a mix of uses, integrated of natural features, the consideration of neighborhoods, possible introduction of parks … definitely providing additional density, shopping opportunities and preserving building that need preserving.”

The district encompasses Leonard Street, Claflin Street, the Parking lot, the land opposite Town Hall, and the stretch of Concord Avenue beyond the commuter rail tunnel adjacent to the US Postal Service office and across from the new Public Library now under construction.

The Overlay District establishes five form-based districts (FB1 to FB5) based on location, with their own characteristics, such as how structures look, height restrictions, and frontage standards. An example: Known as the General Zone, FB2 encompasses the west side of Leonard Street and Concord Avenue adjacent to the commuter rail tracks. Its role is to transition the adjacent residential neighborhoods with the main commercial business area with buildings 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 stories tall with a maximum height of 48 feet.

Ryan presented the meeting with a series of renderings of the new center, showing Leonard Street with a stretch of tall mixed-use buildings, noting that the proposed heights on the street’s west side are not as high as previously cited. 

Claflin Street looking towards Channing Road

The slides showed a complete transformation of the Claflin Parking Lot – known as the home of the Belmont Farmers Market – into “a second main street” consisting of a new retail/residential hub with a “structured parking deck” that would “wrap around the development and hidden in the back.” It would also include a four-story residential building near the intersection of Channing Road.

The development of the Claflin lot would likely require Claflin and Leonard to become one-way streets, creating a “round-about” for the center 

Ryan did clarify that the consultants and the board “haven’t decided at this point whether we may want to go ahead and include the Claflin lot [for a vote at Town Meeting].”

Some questions still need to be answered, such as how much additional square footage each new structure will add to the center and the need for new parking to accommodate the new supply of business and housing. 

“Obviously, both the Claflin lot and the Locatelli Properties lot (the parking adjacent to the back of the retail/office buildings located on Leonard Street) are very important in terms of decisions that the board needs to make … of what we go forward [to present to Town Meeting] in May,” said Ryan.

Yates expressed his unease with the current overlay design on parking. “I did not walk away with a really clearunderstanding for how we were going to make parking work [in a redesigned] Center,” said Yates. Ryan said a solution will come by first making a “complete inventory” of parking there today while seeking opportunities, such as “expansion of street parking … beyond the district” and parking opportunity districts. Also known as parking benefit districts, they are specified areas in the center where the parking revenues raised are reinvested back into the district for a wide range of transportation-related improvements.

Thayer Donham warned her fellow board members that “without having an integral parking plan that goes along with the [overlay district], it will not pass Town Meeting. 

The five districts each have a consultant-created “use table” – outlining what uses are permitted within each zoning district – and also grants uses not currently allowed in the town’s bylaws. One such use, it turns out, is hotels.

Hotels and other lodging units have been a priority of many, including economic development advocates and those promoting commercial real estate, such as Belmont Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne, who has called hotels “low-hanging fruit,” as each pays multiple fees and taxes on parking, meals, and real property. It is no secret the town is attempting to work with the Tosi family, who own five acres along Hittinger and Brighton streets, to locate a hotel on the property. 

Despite several half-hearted attempts in the past, town officials never got around to including a hotel bylaw in the zoning book. And because the town lacks rules on lodging structures, the Able.City’s “use table” permits hotels “by right” in the FB4 and 5 zoning areas, including the Claflin Parking lot and Concord Avenue.

When Yates asked if the use table would override the overall existing zoning, Ryan replied, “Then it would, probably be, yes.” Ryan added that many towns surrounding Belmont have special sections in their zoning books for particular uses like hotels which “flesh out some additional requirements” such as room count and parking numbers.

Belmont actually has a proposed hotel bylaw in the works. Yates revealed that he, Ryan, and the Planning Board’s Associate member Andy Osburn had initiated work that would allow hotels and Bed & Breakfasts “by-right” in all business districts, defining types of lodging (i.e., what is a boutique hotel) while proposing to “relax parking requirements” for hotels. Yates said the group had to pause their efforts due to a deluge of competing demands that “overwhelmed us,” such as work to pass the MBTA Communities Act and the Accessory Units bylaw.

The board will want restrictions on any “by-right” hotels in the overlay district. “Hotels, in general, have been a very popular point of discussion. But there’s been a lot of conservation about, should they be boutique? Should we have 200 rooms” said the board’s Carol Berberian. “I think that as long as there are some standards in place, it’ll just give us an idea of what to expect.” 

At the latest public meeting in February, many in attendance and online were supportive of that first overlay draft with the hope that greater development will increase the percentage of commercial real estate coming to the town’s coffers to ease the property taxes on residential homeowners, and the need of an operational override.

Yet stubborn opposition to the current overlay plan continues from residents who live adjacent to the center, those concerned about traffic impact from new housing and businesses, and notably from the chair of the Belmont Center Association and long-time Center business owner, Deran Muckjian, who at past meeting question the financial viability of developing at the proposed scale. 

“It’s kind of sad that the town is moving forward with [the overlay district] without listening to the local businesses in town who have so much at stake,” said Muckjian.

An updated draft, with comments from the Planning Board and its staff included, will be presented in a public meeting tentatively scheduled for April 10, a month before the Town Meeting vote.

State Rep Rogers Announces March Office Hours

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Photo: State Rep. Dave Rogers

State Rep Dave Rogers has announce his March office hours in and around Belmont. They will be:

  • Tuesday, March 11, 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Friday, March 21, 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Bellmont Caffe, 80 Leonard St.
  • Monday, March 24, 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Robbins Library, 700 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington, MA, 02476
  • Thursday, March 27, 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at Tilde Coffee, 3476 Massachusetts Ave., North Cambridge, MA, 02140

Feel free to contact Rep. Rogers’ office at any time with questions by phone at 617-722-2263 or by email at dave.rogers@mahouse.gov

‘Won’t You Stay?’ Garvin Receives Hefty Pay Increase To Remain In Belmont

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Photo: Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Administrator

Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs (and, yes, Jackson Browne for all you Boomers) asked the question: “Oh, won’t you stay/Just a little bit longer?” You can now add the trio known as the Belmont Select Board with their own version of the classic doo-wop song. Will you stay Patrice?

A day after it was revealed that Town Administrator Patrice Garvin was a finalist for a similar position in Danvers, the Select Board approved a significant pay increase to convince Garvin to continue her tenure in Belmont for the next five years.

Using a hastily added item snuck into the board’s Wednesday meeting agenda – inserted just within the two-day notification requirement for public meetings – the board voted unanimously to increase Garvin’s salary from $216,800 (OK’d in September) to $229,500 per annum as of Jan. 15.

The salary includes a compensation package in which Garvin will receive a 2 percent annual pay increase over her contract and a $5,000 retention bonus paid out at the beginning of the fiscal year.

Garvin’s new pay package came about as the town administrator’s future in the “Town of Homes” was suddenly viewed as tenative as she perpared for her interview in Danvers.

“This was not welcome news,” said Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne of Garvin’s possible departure, noting the town is facing many “mission critical” issues such as major zoning bylaw reform and a possible 2007 budget override. With the pool of qualified town administrators “vanishingly small” and with the knowledge it would likely take anyone hired at least two years to get up to speed, “I asked Ms Garvin a key question, would she consider an improved employment contract from Belmont?” said Dionne. While surprised by the offer, Garvin “agreed to talk.”

With time of the essence, the board acted quickly to keep the town administrator that one board member recently described as “spectacular.” First, it revised the board’s meeting agenda before Monday’s Special Town Meeting (whose members approved the town’s new Accessory Dwelling Unit bylaw) to add an executive session that was later reveiled to knock out the details of Garvin’s new salary contract.

The board had scheduled a Wednesday meeting to prepare for a second night of Town Meeting if it had run long on Monday. Usually, this “extra” board meeting is cancelled. But late Monday, the board hastily added to the board’s Wednesday meeting agenda an item on the “Discussion and Possible Vote to Ratify Amendment to Contract for Town Administrator (Item Added)” just within the two-day notification requirement for public meetings. At Wednesday’s meeting that lasted 13 minutes and no public discussion, the board reupped Garvin contract for five additional years.

Some citizens – while expressing support to retain Garvin’s services, where less than thrilled by the board’s transparency. “It was like they wanted to keep this quiet,” said one resident who viewed the meeting on her smart phone while attending the Belmont vs. Hingham Girls Hockey state quarter-finals in Stoneham.

For other residents, the cost of keeping Garvin is an issue. According to World at Work, a global advisory company, the 5.9 percent jump in her annual paycheck is a step up from the average pay increase of 3.6 to 4 percent in the US last year. At her new salary, Garvin earns more than Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy, who takes home about $222,000.

However, according to Dionne, the board’s action is to bring Garvin’s pay and compensation package to a comparable level to her peers, an issue Dionne said was not fully addressed in September when the board supported a merit increase for Garvin.

“Her current compensation package is not competitive,” Dionne said. “We have looked at all-in compensation comparisons for other town managers and administrators, and Garvin is near the bottom of the list despite having significant experience.” The Select Board knew this when we conducted her annual review last fall.”

While noting the subject of Garvin’s salary has been a topic of “enduring interest” to many Belmont residents, Board member Roy Epstein said her salary is based on the town’s assessment of the market, with a reasonable set of benchmarks for town administrator, police chief and fire chief, and the salary is completely in line with those competitive benchmarks.

“Retaining [Garvin] is something of great importance. I don’t think we have any reasonable alternative but to pay a market based salary. It’s not at the top of the scale, but it’s certainly not at the bottom. It’s in the middle, and that’s where I think we ought to be,” he said.

A comparison to eastern Massachusetts municipalities of similar size to Belmont shows that Garvin will just above the mid-line of the salary conversation:

  • Arlington’s Sanford Pooler received $188,583 in 2022; 
  • Lexington’s James Malloy took home $238,142 in 2023;
  • Winchester’s Beth Rudolph made $215,995 when she was hired in 2023.
  • Concord’s Kerry Lafleur received $246,671 in 2023.
  • Burlington’s Paul Sagarino Jr. received $243,834 in 2023.
  • Needham’s Kate Fitzpatrick made $234,008 before performance reviews in 2024.

For Garvin, returning to her office on the second floor of Town Hall is gratifying as it provides her the opportunity to continue the work she and her team have begun.

“You could start to see how all the work was starting to kind of intertwine with each other, and all the small decisions that we made years ago really coming to fruition now, and how it impacts other departments,” she said.

“So it’s really exciting to see all those things come together, and I appreciate the board’s willingness and opportunity to be in town to really to just keep going and then continue to build off of everything that we’ve done, and be able to do that with the team that’s in place,” Garvin said.

[Breaking] Belmont Town Administrator A Finalist For Danvers Town Manager’s Post

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Photo: Belmont Town Manager Patrice Garvin

According to a March 5 post on the town’s website, Patrice Garvin, Belmont’s Town Administrator for the past seven years, is one of three finalists to become Danvers’ next town manager.

Garvin and the other two finalists – Gloucester CEO Jill Cahill and former Swampscott Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald- were announced at the Tuesday, March 4 Select Board meeting. The board will interview the three on March 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center.  

“The Board will consider the candidates and potentially make a selection that night or at the following Select Board meeting on March 18,” according to the notice.

The job opening occurred when Steve Bartha resigned from the position in October to take the town manager job in Lexington.

This marks the second time Garvin has been a finalist to take a top spot in another municipality since arriving in Belmont in January 2018. In December 2021, Garvin was in the running to replace Reading Town Manager Robert LeLacheur but lost out to Chelsea’s Department of Public Work Commissioner Fidel Maltez.

With nearly the same number of residents (a population of 27,900), Danvers is at the intersection of I95, Route 128, and Route 1, which makes it attractive for commercial development.

Coming to Belmont after serving as Shirley’s Town Administrator, Garvin has had a successful tenure in the “Town of Homes,” receiving outstanding job performance reviews from successive Select Boards. Her tenure included steering the town through the Covid pandemic and budgetary difficulties, including a failed override in 2020.

After her latest merit increase in September 2024, Garvin’s salary is $216,800. The Danvers position statement indicates that Town Manager’s annual salary is budgeted at “$220,000+/- depending on qualifications.”

Belmont Tells Residents: ‘Get Off The Fields!’

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Photo: Grove Street Playground

Mud season has arrived in Belmont! A foot of snow and ice, the arrival of Spring-like temperatures, and several rain events in the coming week can easily result in the town’s parks and open spaces being destroyed as residents and sports teams heads back to the grounds.

So, due to the ongoing snow/ice melt and in order to preserve the integrity of the fields for the coming year, Belmont has temporarily closed all grass playing fields. There is one exception: Payson Park Playground.

Public access, dog walking and all ball playing – that includes baseball, lacrosse, and soccer – is not permitted until the fields are deemed no longer water logged.

The Belmont Police have been asked to assist in enforcing this temporary closure. “We appreciate everyone’s cooperation and understanding until the fields are reopened,” said the police.

Got a question? Contact the DPW at 617-993-2680.