Town’s Fix Of ‘Dysfunctional’ Senior Services Meets With COA Pushback As Sides Set To Meet Monday

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Photo: Patrice Garvin at Thursday’s groundbreaking for the new skating rink/recreation facility

Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin spoke during Thursday morning’s groundbreaking ceremony for the new skating rink and recreation facility on Concord Avenue. While her remarks were directed to nearly fifty town officials and builders who came to celebrate the event, it soon became apparent that Garvin was also directing her comments to an audience that wasn’t there.

As she praised past and present select board members for their role in helping to build the facility, Garvin pointed out that “one of the questions that they often asked themselves is, ‘what is in the best interest of the town?”

“Leadership,” she noted, “is considering and impacting the many, not the vocal few,” while making “very difficult decisions to serve the many residents of this community.”

Garvin’s statement was a direct response to the “vocal few” attempting to put a stop to transforming the structure that delivers services to seniors. [When asked after the ceremony if she was directing her remarks to members of the Council on Aging, Garvin said, “Oh, you think?”]

Her comments followed a “memorandum” issued the day before, on Sept. 4, by the Council on Aging, which was delivered to the three-member Belmont Select Board demanding the elected officials put a halt to Garvin’s restructuring of the senior services model from a stand-alone department with a direct line to the Town Administrator into just one of four departments making up the town’s newly-created Human Services Department.

The action by the 11-member COA, which advocates on behalf of older adults in Belmont, came after three months of growing frustration from the senior advocates, who expressed their dissatisfaction with the speed of the plan’s implementation and Garvin’s seeming reluctance to seek the COA’s advice and consent to the move and the elimination of the senior center’s director and assistant director positions.

In the run-up to its vote on Sept. 4, COA members have continued a pressure campaign – online and via social media – to reverse the restructuring. A large number of supporters and residents are expected to attend the Select Board’s joint meeting with the COA on Monday, Sept. 9, as they attempt to influence the board using its “moral” position as senior advocates to press its argument, which, according to council member Judith Morrison, is for Garvin “to stop and consult.”

But to Garvin, the opposition to her plans has less to do with advocating for a strong COA and provide needed services than a quest to continue to hold reign over the Senior Center and those hired to run its programming, which has resulted in a “dysfunctional” department that lacks professionalism in its staffing and operations.

“I understand they have concerns. It’s change. I get that. But there’s a certain segment of seniors that like to use the Senior Center in the way that they have it since it was created,” she said.

Despite the concerns of senior advocates, in the view of the Town Administrator, the restructuring plan is a fait accompli.

“The last position [the important program director post] has been posted and once that person is hired, the restructure will be done,” said Garvin in an interview with the Belmontonian on Thursday.

“They’re looking at me not to do it, and that’s not going to happen,” said Garvin.

The confrontation between the town and a committee has grown contentious, with older advocates going onto social media and via email to question Garvin’s motive. They suggest the Town Administrator—now in her seventh year at the helm—is attempting a “power grab” to effectively sideline the COA from town governance.

This bitter skirmish between the town’s chief administrative official and a group of volunteers who are dedicated advocates for Belmont seniors was hardly foreseen just two years ago when the Senior Center was run by Nava Niv-Vogel. The well-liked, director managed services for 22 years with aplomb that the COA and Select Board were happy to leave in her hands the running of the department, its programs and later the Beech Street Center.

It was a dysfunctional department due to the ongoing interference of the COA

Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Administrator

When Niv-Vogel departed in June 2022, the COA asked Garvin if “it wanted to have a very active role” in hiring the new director. Despite having forgiving’s on the council’s choice of Dana Bickelman, whom she believed could struggle with the actively involved council members, “I thought, ‘you know what?’ I’m going to defer to the COA,” said Garvin.

While she thought Bickelman did “a great job,” especially running great programs, Garvin said she appeared she had a hard time managing the multitude of responsibilities. When Bickelman resigned in late 2023, Brandan Fitts, the town’s recreation department director, was named interim director “to keep an eye on things and keep the ship going,” said Garvin.

Soon afterward in early 2024, Garvin began receiving for the first time troubling communications from Fitts that COA members were “trying to insert themselves into the day-to-day operations of the department” while “a toxic work environment” created by the COA and an entrenched senior center staff resulted where “Dana was not able to do her job, and [Fitts] is having trouble doing his job even today.”

While unwilling to provide examples of COA or staff actions that produced the fractious conditions for various personnel or privacy concerns, Garvin said examples could see the light of day at subsequent public meetings.

It soon became clear the senior center “didn’t work,” said Garvin. “It wasn’t being managed right. It was an insight that I didn’t see until Dana [Bickelman] left in the new year. This problem could not be solved simply by bringing in a different person. This was structural,” said Garvin.

“It was a dysfunctional department due to the ongoing interference of the COA,” she said.

Her experience allowing the COA to highjack the hiring process of Bickelman—which Garvin admits was a mistake on her part—and the subsequent examples of inefficiencies and divisiveness within the staff forced Garvin’s hand. It became clear the Senior Center needed to be restructured and professionalized into an efficient service delivery system by consolidating administrative roles, simplifying budget management, and refocusing on programming and services.

In the spring, job openings at the senior center and the recreation department provided Garvin with the opportunity to create new staff positions to support the establishment of a Human Service Department with the COA as a division within the new department.

Garvin presented the Select Board with the first mention of a reorganization at its May 13 meeting, unveiling a new Human Services Department that will consist of the Recreation Department, the Veteran Services Officer, the Social Worker, and senior services. In the new HSD, senior services would be represented by a full-time Senior Center Program Director and a transportation coordinator both who will report to the assistant Human Services Director.

It became clear early on that the town wanted to have this new entity up and running quickly. By June, job notices were posted, there were continued discussions with the Select Board and the representative union leadership took place on the new positions, with Fitts appearing ready to take on the role of the new department’s first director.

But for many seniors, the suddenness and speed of the restructuring were a shock, as the COA felt they were being marginalized as none had been consulted on the new format. Garvin’s plan quickly became a point of contention, leading to an August meeting between Garvin and the COA that only hardened the adversarial positions.

[W]e would like the Select Board to essentially force her to consult with us.

Council on Aging member, Andrea Hassol

The culmination of the last three months for the Senior Center campaigners is the memorandum sent to the Select Board last week. The memo by COA member Joel Semuels contends the reorganization violates “the spirit” of the town’s Council on Aging statute in which “the board may appoint such clerks and other employees as it may require.” And while the town’s human resources department hires Senior Center staff, Semuels believes a “reasonable statutory interpretation” is that the COA board “must be consulted on all hires.”

“We feel that the actions of the Town Administrator show remarkable and determined insensitivity to the needs of seniors and the same lack of expertise in aging services we see being eliminated,” said Semuels, who is also a Town Meeting member from Precinct 6. The memo also contends the COA “will have little control over the Human Services Department under the new organizational chart.”

In addition, a separate letter from the COA’s newest member, Andrea Hassol, accompanying the memorandum requests the town supply three sets of documents that had been asked for previously. Hassol said the financial and organizational information is needed quickly as it appears that Garvin is attempting an “end run” of the COA in the management of the senior center.

“We want [the Select Board] to roll up their sleeves a little bit and get a little more involved” in reviewing the new organizational chart of the Human Services Department and the new job descriptions, said Hassol at the Sept. 4 meeting.

“We want to be able to have some input,” said Hassol. “We want [the Select Board] to have the time to consider them and offer suggestions when [Garvin] narrowed the field … and we’d like to see their resumes, maybe involved in the interviewing process.”

“So we would like the Select Board to essentially force her to consult with us,” said Hassol.

However, for the COA to pin its hopes on the Select Board overriding the Town Administrator at the joint meeting on Monday, Sept. 9, it appears to be a very long shot as each board member had previously voiced support for Garvin’s actions.

And Garvin says her authority to take this action can be found in black and white.

Garvin, the Select Board and the town council point to a decade-old state legislation known as Acts of 2014 Chapter 17, which established the position of Town Administrator in Belmont and was adopted by the Town Meeting that formalized the “appointment of a town administrator to serve at the pleasure of the board of selectmen.” Under section c of the law, the town administrator is given near complete control, “based upon merit and fitness,” in appointing non-elected department heads of the town with a few exceptions, such as fire and police chiefs and their employees.

“It’s about control. They think they have the right to manage staff, but under the Acts of 2014, chapter 17, that’s my [role].”

Garvin said the restructuring will not impact the town’s continued commitment to seniors. The new program director “is actually charged with working with the COA to come up with programming and services.”

“We didn’t change the headcount [at the Beech Street Center] and I didn’t change the budget.” In fact, under the new structure, “I’m giving [the COA] the ability to do exactly what they’re charged with, and that is be advisors.”

“And I’m here to do my job, which is providing services to the residents,” she said.

State Primary Election: Belmont Backs Dolan In Gov. Council Race; Deaton Is Town’s GOP Voters Choice To Take On Warren In November

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Photo: Belmont party voters followed the state trends

Nearly one in four registered voters of the state’s three major parties ventured out on a brilliant late summer day in Belmont to cast ballots in the Massachusetts State Party Primary held on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

According to the Town Clerk, 552 of the 2,306 voters cast ballots Tuesday, or 23.9 percent, most of those Democrats (466) followed by Republicans (85) with a lone Libertarian.

In two of the few competitive races on Tuesday’s ballot. Belmont’s voters from both major parties backed the winning candidate statewide.

On the Democratic side of the ledger, challenger Mara Dolan took Belmont over long-time incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney of Watertown, 233-200, in the Governor’s Council District 3 race. Second time was the charm as Dolan – a public defender who barely lost to Devaney in 2022 – defeated the eight term councilor district-wide, leading with 45,274 votes to 41,478, (52.2 percent vs 47.8 percent) with 99 percent of the estimated vote tallied.

In the race to select the person who will challenge sitting US Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the general election, Belmont’s GOP voters selected John Deaton with 56 votes, trumping Robert Antonellis (19 votes) and Ian Cain (7 votes). A personal injury lawyer who is backed by several leaders in the cryptocurrency industry, Deaton swamped Antonellis statewide, 124,825 to 50,560, with Cain finishing with 17,768.

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, who topped Robert Antonellis and Ian Cain,

Belmont Votes: 2024 State Primary Election

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Photo: Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Voting in the Massachusetts State Primary will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 3. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

WHO CAN VOTE AND FOR WHICH PARTY

Your enrollment as a voter will determine which party ballot you can choose.

A voter enrolled in one of three Massachusetts political parties, can vote for that specific party, represented by these letters:

  • D – Democratic Party
  • R – Republican Party
  • L – Libertarian Party

A registered Democrat cannot vote a Republican or Libertarian ballot; a registered Republican cannot vote a Democratic or Libertarian ballot; a registered Libertarian cannot vote a Democratic or Republican ballot.

Only voters who are not affiliated with a political party, called Unenrolled (U – commonly known as No Party or “Independent”) can ask for any party ballot on Primary Day.

If you belong to a minor party which is not holding a primary – for example, the Green, Socialist, American Independent or Pirate parties – you will not have the chance to vote for in this election.

All voters wishing to cast their ballot on Election Day must go to their assigned voting precinct.

This election will determine who will be the Democratic and Republican candidate in the general election. 

The race that has seen the most attention is for the District 3 – which includes Belmont – Governor’s Councilor seat with long-time incumbent Marilyn Petitto Devaney from Watertown begin challenged again by Mara Dolan of Concord who has picked up the endorsements of many of the leading elected officials in the district. The same two candidates faced each other in 2022, with Petitto Devaney barely retaining her seat garnering just 51 percent of the vote.

There are three Republicans running to take on incumbent Democrat Elizabeth Warren for the US Senate in November: engineer Robert J. Antonellis, Quincy City Council President Ian Cain, and lawyer and cryptocurrency advocate John Deaton.

Belmont’s voting precincts:

  • Precinct One: Belmont Memorial Library, Assembly Room, 336 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 Road, Enter From Cross St.

Inactivated Voters

Voters who have been informed that their voting status has been changed to Inactive should be prepared to present identification before being permitted to vote.

If You Requested a Vote By Mail Ballot But Prefer to Vote In Person

Voters who have requested an absentee or an early vote by mail ballot should expect that the precinct will check with the Town Clerk to determine if a ballot has already been received for that voter.

Voters who Need to Return their Mailed Ballot for Counting

Any voter who would like to return a absentee or vote by mail ballot  to be counted, must return the ballot  to the Town Clerk by the close of polls on election night, 8 pm.  It cannot be delivered to a voting precinct. There is a dedicated drop box for the Town Clerk at the base of the steps to Town Hall along the driveway at parking lot level.

Select Board OK Merit Pay Increases For Public Safety Chiefs

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Photo:

Belmont’s public safety chiefs received merit pay increases after the Belmont Select Board conducted its annual performance review during the board’s Aug. 26 meeting.

Police Chief James MacIsaac and Fire Chief David DeStefano received two percent merit increases effective July 1, 2024. Each also collected a two percent cost-of-living adjustment on July 1. MacIssac’s annual salary increases to $218,676.14, while DeStefano’s pay is now $184,671, according to Director of Human Resources Kelli King.

Both men received high overall scores – 4.75 out of a top score of 5 – in their merit review by the three-member Select Board and Town Administrator Patrice Garvin. King summarized the comments and totaled the scores in eight categories highlighting the chief strengths, various opportunities and the board’s statements.

DeStefano was described as a “consensus builder [who] has provided much needed direction to the department, making it more innovative and successful.” His expertise is viewed as crucial in helping Belmont’s drive to stimulate new growth and increased density. While facing budget and staffing constraints, DeStefano move towards promoting department-wide paramedic training as “a promising step for addressing these challenge.”

“Chief DeStefano is seen as a strong, balanced leader who has a cohesive team and has proven to be the right person for both Belmont and the entire department,” said King.

MacIssac is “recognized as an articulate and clear sighted leader” who “takes challenges head on, regardless of their difficulty.” His commitment to modern policing is evident in his focus on promoting de-escalation techniques, the use of a social worker to resolve domestic disputes as alternative to deadly force. The board noted his leadership was “instrumental in the decision to leave civil service” which the board praised and has resulted in a substantial increase of new hires this year.

“The [police] department is a source of pride for Belmont, a reflection of Chief McIssac’s leadership and the effort of every member of the team. His exemplary performance especially over the past year and its various challenges, underscores his effectiveness,” said King paraphasing the comments of the Select Board.

Town, Select Board Proposing Major Change To Town Meeting Calendar For ’25

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Photo: Belmont annual Town Meeting will be a May event

In a move away from a more than decade long practice, the town administrator and Belmont Select Board are recommending “stream lining” the annual Town Meeting from two freestanding “segments” held in May and June into a single meeting on consecutive Monday and Wednesday nights beginning the first week of May and running straight though until all articles and citizen petitions have been acted on.

“What we’re looking to do is condense Town Meeting,” said Patrice Garvin, Belmont’s Town Administrator, as she was presenting to the Select Board the town-wide “budget calendar,” a detailed schedule for developing fiscal year 2026 town and school budgets from “now until the end of June.”

Gone will be separate chunks of articles exclusively for the budget (known as Segment B) and general articles (Segment A) with several weeks of inactivity between the two. The current set up was adopted in the early 2010s to allow the Meeting to have a clearer idea of the amount of fiscal aid the town and schools would be receiving in the state budget.

Garvin said while going over the that several of the annual meeting’s processes were “very cumbersome and just seem to go on and on for pretty much forever.” Working with Jennifer Hewitt, the town’s finance head/assistant Town Administrator, schools Superintendent Jill Geiser, Town Moderator Mike Widmer, and Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, the recommendation calls for the upcoming 2025 annual meeting will begin on May 5 and run for a proposed six meetings over three weeks, ending before Memorial Day. Garvin said at the request of the schools, the budgets will be taken up during the later part of the newly-schedule Town Meeting.

Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne noted that “those [June] evenings turned out to be really hard for people whether it was in terms of travel, or family, or graduations events.”

“Because it would be more efficient not to start and stop, we hope that we wouldn’t have quite as many sessions of Town Meeting, and ease the burden on Town Meeting [Members],” said Dionne, who supports the Garvin recommendation. She also noted when Town Meeting runs deep into June, it’s difficult for the town to close its books before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

The recommendation was seconded by the official who has presided over the past 16 Town Meetings.

“It makes a lot of sense for all the reasons you’ve laid out,” said Widmer, who will retire from his post in April, 2025. “It will take some changes and cooperation but on balance these are the right steps.”

The Select Board delayed a vote on the recommendation until the School Committee discussed the proposed budget schedule.

The Town Meeting change will also impact the budget process of both the town and schools, which Dionne said would create “challenges” for the schools. Geiser said the change will actually be helpful by reducing the time distance between the release of the schools “final” budget in late March and a likely vote by Town Meeting in middle May, as it will be “further along” than in previous years.

Amy Zuccarello, school committee member and chair of its finance subcommittee, told the Select Board that in her opinion – the School Committee has yet to discuss Garvin’s recommendation – would like to come before Town Meeting in May with an article that “is very close to what our final budget is going to be.” A prompt deadline, she believes, will result in “more shifting” within its budget “as we won’t know earlier about staff resignations … and other things we haven’t accounted for.”

“The balancing act is that its a good thing to bring something before Town Meeting which represents the best efforts of the school administration and School Committee where we are at that moment. While [a budget] is a living document and there is potential of change, I would like to see it be as close to the budget we ultimately end up with,” Zuccarello said was her concern.

Breaking: Property Owner Eyes Building 225 Apartments At Purecoat Site On Hittinger St.

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Photo: The Purecoat North site which the owner the Tosi family hopes to build 225 apartment units on the three acre site adjacent Hittinger Street and Brighton Avenue.

The property owner of the Purecoat North Plating manufacturing site on Hittinger Street and a dog daycare business facing Brighton Street in east Belmont has presented to the town a preliminary design to redevelop the 126,726 square foot parcel into a 225 unit apartment complex with four floors of residential units above street level retail stores.

“I think we have a bonifide offer to proceed with a very major investment in Purecoat by the owner of Purecoat,” said Select Board member Roy Epstein. Under this redevelopment “scheme”, the property tax on the site will increase “by a factor of 10.”

While details – revealed at Monday’s Select Board meeting – remain vague, the Tosi family from Belmont who own the property approached Town officials in June with its plans to transform the three acre location into the largest mixed use development in Belmont’s history. In comparison, the Bradford complex in Cushing Square that opened in 2019 has half the number of units as what being proposed on Hittinger and Brighton streets.

One detail that has emerged is for two thirds of the complex, or 150 units, to be two-bedroom suites with the remaining units single bedrooms and studios.

More details are expected when the Planning Board meets on Tuesday, July 23.

The sites, currently occupied by Purecoat and the dog daycare business Crate Escape, are located adjacent the driveway to Belmont Middle and High School and across Hittinger from a residential neighborhood. The site also fronts Brighton Street at the corner with Flanders Road and runs along the commuter rail tracks.

The Tosi’s have told Epstein the project is conditional on being a by-right development, which means that the town’s planning staff or the Planning Board cannot deny the project as long as the proposal meets the criteria of the the Zoning Bylaw. While a by-right project means the project will require no waivers, special permits, or any other approvals, it’s still required to go through the normal development processes including Site Plan Review and the regular building permitting approvals.

The parcels are zoned as “General Business” which allow developer much greater leeway to build the complex they envision, a proposition that promoted Select Board Chair Elizabeth Dionne to say that the Tosi family “has the town over a barrel.” Dionne criticised the proposal as a long-term money loser for the town as it will increase the cost of town services, a jump in traffic, and an unknown increase in student enrollment in the public school district.

“No, we make money, this is cash-flow positive,” said Epstein.

It took Town Administrator Patrice Garvin to end the verbal tit for tat by saying the town is currently working with the Tosi family “to run some numbers” on the project’s revenue and expenses.

“We want to get the information to the Planning Board to really see what this project means,” said Garvin.

If the town or the Planning Board pushes back on the Tosi demands, the family is said to have made an old chestnut of a threat. “If it [isn’t] by-right, he’s making money [as a plating manufactor] and they’ll just leave it and nothing will happen,” said Epstein.

The parcels possible development is a blow to a number of town officials and residents who sees the location as a hub for commercial development. In fact, during its recent review of maps during the MBTA Communities Act discussion to determine areas to change zoning requirements to permit greater opportunities to develop multiunit housing, the Planning Board removed the Purecoat site for consideration for residential projects, replacing it with an area along Belmont Street near the Cambridge city line.

That decision by the Planning Board is being seen as one reason the Select Board in a 2-1 decision not to reappoint Planning Board Chair Jeffrey Birenbaum, to his role leading the five-member group, a move that surprised many in town.

In the past decade and a half, the town had been interested in the property for various projects. The Tosi family rejected a $6 million offer in 2011 to allow the construction of a Belmont Light substation. The station would eventually end up on Flanders Road. In 2019, a 60-day negotiation period between the town and the Tosi family failed to secure the ownership of the property or create an easement to allow the community bike path to run along the south side of the tracks. The path is now proceeding along the northside of the commuter line.

Dionne Takes On Role Leading Belmont’s Select Board

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Photo: Elizabeth Dionne, new chair of the Belmont Select Board

You’ll never have to ask Elizabeth Dionne her position on an issue. The Select Board’s new leader will tell you exactly where she stands, and sometimes she acknowledges, it done standing on someone’s toes.

During her 15 months on the board, colleagues, town officials, and committee heads have been on the receiving end of one of Dionne’s frank assessments on how they are performing their job (or lack thereof) or if they appear to be impeding forward progress in what she believes is Belmont’s future.

“What I ran [for the Select Board in 2023] I was trying to put the town on a secure financial footing so that we can provide excellent services and world class schools. And that’s going to be uncomfortable, because it’s going to require some major change,” she said.

While eager to express her opinion, Dionne isn’t seeking to initiate a dust-up.

“I don’t love making people uncomfortable. I’m uncomfortable when I make others uncomfortable,” she said Monday. “That’s not fun, but sometimes it’s just the right thing to do.”

Since July 1, Dionne has been the third woman to chair Belmont’s three-member elected executive board, following Ann Taubes Warner (1994) and Ann Marie Mahoney (2004).

“I have really big shoes to fill,” said Dionne. “Ann Paulson [who served from 1986-1992] and Ann Marie Mahoney are both remarkable women and leaders, and I’ve learned a lot from both of them.”

Dionne’s ascendency to the top rung of town governance—which is preordained as board members rotate into the post during their second year—presents the opportunity to highlight an agenda that heavily focuses on reconfiguring the town’s fiscal base.

“Finances, finances, finances … that’s the foundation on which everything else rests,” she said. And while the town administration has effected meaningful efficiencies through policy changes including those recommended in the Collins Report, “at a certain point you need more bodies. We need more asphalt. We need more concrete.”

Those changes included revamping the zoning bylaws to promote a “friendlier” environment for businesses and developers by promoting commercial investment and attracting retail to Belmont’s business centers.

“We can’t say ‘no’ to new business and ‘no’ to new taxes and have good schools. You’d have two or three, but not all three. So if we want to try to moderate the rate of tax increases, we’ve have to have commercial and business development because everybody wants good schools. Nobody wants to say, ‘oh let’s have poor schools that we keep our taxes low.’ That’s not where Belmont is.”

To achieve this overriding goal, Dionne is committing to a far-reaching strategic approach. She accepts that for many years, the select board and town officials had to be reactive due to the pandemic, various overrides, and continual budget cuts. But past excuses are now seen as self-imposed barriers to the required change.

“I’m really tired of being reactionary and really tired of constantly chasing the next override,” she said.

“I think we’re all really trying to look at a future vision and to ask questions to which we may not have the answers, but at least asking those questions will guide the decisions that we make and where we try to lead the town. And it’s always a balance. I have ideas and I want to lead on those.”

Some of those include partnering with the Planning Board to create a retail vacancy bylaw, protect open space, and develop a traffic-controlling plan. In the long term, Dionne points to rewriting bylaws to promote hotel construction and overhaul the zoning map in West Belmont.

In some areas, change has already arrived. She notes zoning bylaw reform in the past year including restaurant zoning and restaurant parking, removal of specific special permits on business improvements, and the ongoing MBTA Communities Act plan that will come before a Special Town Meeting in November.

“Change can’t simply come from the Select Board’s initiatives; it will require a commitment and agreement from all stakeholders in town,” said Dionne. One of her first initiatives as chair will be meeting with committee chairs, and “both tell them what [the board] wants to prioritize but also hear from them so that it’s a two-way communication.”

“There is no silver bullet or one-size-fits-all approach to financial challenges. It must be a multifaceted effort,” she said. She will continue to seek town committees to find solutions or write the changes, as she did utilizing the Vision 21 Implementation Committee and Economic Development Committee on the new restaurant bylaws.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m very wide but not very deep because I can’t do both. So I really try to identify people who I know are going deep into a topic who I trust to give me accurate information and have the integrity to be honest. Because if I can trust information from those sources, then I can start to strategically put the pieces together for a larger vision for the town,” she said.

During her year at the board’s helm, Dionne said she is eager for residents and business owners to see her as a listening post with their concerns or suggestions.

“What I bring to the position is maybe a certain humility in terms of a willingness to listen and learn from others, and also a certain sensitivity as to people who feel maybe left out or not heard,” Dionne said.

sugar coating her views

“I don’t love making people uncomfortable. I’m uncomfortable when I make others uncomfortable,” she said Monday. “That’s not fun, but sometimes it’s just the right thing to do.”

In a generational moment, Dionne becomes just the third woman to chair Belmont’s three member elected executive board, following Anne Warner (1994) and Ann Marie Mahoney (2004) in that post.

“I have really big shoes to fill. Ann Paulson and Ann Marie Mahoney are both remarkable women, and leaders, and I’ve learned a lot from both of them.”

Dionne’s ascendency to the top rung was preordained since board members rotate into the post during the second year of their tenure. She will direct

“What I bring to the position is maybe a certain humility in terms of a willingness to listen and learn from others, and also a certain sensitivity as to people who feel maybe left out or not heard,” Dionne said. One of her first one initiatives as chair is to start meeting with committee chairs, and both tell them what [the board] wants to prioritize but also hear from them so that it’s a two-way communication.

1:12
like that. Absolutely. That’s very important too. I will do my best to be at as many of them as I can. It’s honestly a lot of what my job is is talking to people.

Various people have have different strengths.

My strength is a strategic view. So sometimes I feel like I’m very wide but not very deep because I can’t do both. So I really try to identify people who I know are going deep into a topic who I trust to give me accurate information and have the integrity to be honest. Because if I can trust information from those sources, then I can start to strategically put the pieces together for a larger vision for the town.

1:54
If anybody has been following the Select Board, they know that you’re somebody who is willing to speak your mind and speak it very clearly and very strong. How are you going to be leading the board? Is it going to be an activist board or is it going to be more of a let’s do something board you know,

2:13
well aren’t an activist outlet do something kind of the same? How would you distinguish them?

2:18

The board has had to be reactive, the pandemic, the various overrides, having to continually cut budgets. So there have been a lot of really challenging situations. I think both when Mark Pula was still on the board when I first joined a nail with Matt Taylor, we have become a much more strategic active board. I think we’re all really trying to look at a future vision and to ask questions to which we may not have the answers, but at least asking those questions will guide the decisions that we make and where we try to lead the town. And it’s always a balance. I have ideas I want to lead on those. So

3:14
what are some of those goals?

3:16
Well, you heard them to lead it’s what I ran on.

What I ran on was trying to put the County town on a secure financial footing so that we can provide excellent services and world class schools. That’s going to be uncomfortable, because it’s going to require some change. We can’t We can’t say no to new business, and no two new taxes and have good schools. You’d have two or three but not all three. So if we want to try to moderate the rate of tax increases, we’ve got to have commercial and business development because everybody wants good schools. Nobody wants to say oh, let’s have poor schools that we keep our taxes low. That’s not where Belmont is.

you’re willing to put a red line

4:12
on commercial, right, because I promised I promised that to the voters. That’s what I said I

4:37

Thanks, Watertown: Belmont Fills Top IT Post; DPW Welcomes Familiar Faces To New Jobs

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Photo: Apple Macintosh 128k computer, January 1984, by Bernard Gotfryd (credit: Library of Congress)

Belmont didn’t need to physically go far to fill its new top IT post.

Watertown’s Chief Information Officer Christopher McClure will be moving just 2 1/2 miles as he becomes Belmont’s new IT Director. His starting date is Aug. 12.

For the past 23 years, McClure has been working in the information technology and services industry with a background in Computer Forensics, IT Strategy, Web Design, Spiceworks, and Management.

“What Chris is really good at doing is building IT departments,” Patrice Garvin, Belmont town adminstrator, told the Select Board. “He’s done it in multiple communities. And we’re really excited to have him come on and start to build the IT department here.”

McClure received his Bachelor’s Degree from UMass Lowell. Before arriving in Watertown in 2020, McClure was the Information Technology Director in North Andover and IT Director in Hopkinton, Westford, and Norfolk.

The town’s IT Department has had significant departures this year. In the spring, the department was down to one full-time and a half-time position. The short staffing nearly derailed the town’s conducting of a fully remote Special Town Meeting in late June. 

The town’s Information Technology Department has been a subject of growing interest by town officials regarding the protection of data it holds and the system from computer crime. The most frequent of these criminal activities facing municipalities is ransomware, which WIRE Magazine called “the defining cybercrime of the past decade, with criminals targeting a wide range of victims, including hospitals, schools, and governments.”

The criminal gangs – many from Russia, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia – will encrypt critical data, “bringing the victim’s operation to a grinding halt and then extorting them with the threat of releasing sensitive information,” according to WIRE.

In other hiring news, the town didn’t have to leave Town Hall to fill an important post. The Department of Public Works ended 2023 having lost three critical positions due to retirements including the business manager. That job has been filled by the town’s Budget Analyst Matt Haskell.

“We’re very excited about [Haskell taking the position],” said Garvin. “He’s very much in tune with the budget. And I’ve already heard he’s doing a lot of innovative changes within the DPW. So it’s a seamless transition.”

A second internal promotion was annouced as Mark Mancuso, currently the Water Operations Division Manager, will now move into the Assistant DPW director position.

Special Town Meeting Approves Revised Traffic Plan, Sets Stage For Development of McLean Parcels

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Photo: A screen shot of the final vote

The annual Town Meeting came to an end on Wednesday, June 26, when members overwhelmingly approved a Special Town Meeting article to alter a quarter-century traffic management agreement between the town and McLean Hospital that was stalling the financing of a pair of developments on two parcels of land.

The 192-25-5 result easily passed the two-thirds margin required to modify the existing plan, dubbed the Traffic Management and Mitigation Plan (TMMP). Before the final vote, members defeated an amendment by abutters that sought to delay implementing the changes sought by McLean and supported by the town.

With the new agreement in place, developer Northland Development can proceed with construction of 150 units of residential housing in Zone 3—accessed from Olmsted Drive off of Pleasant Street—as well as create a building to house two schools run by the hospital while setting aside 60,000 square feet for a future research and development facility in Zone 4.

Presenting for the town, Town Engineer Glenn Clancy took a detailed dive into the history of the traffic plan and the proposed development in Zone 3. The TMMA was meant to address how the property’s owner and residents will comport with the traffic limitations identified in 1999, which included a sizeable 486-unit assistant living facility. Violating the volume ceiling would require fines and removing parking and access to the site, which financing firms reportedly pointed to as an impediment to the project’s funding.

Clancy noted the mitigation plan is no longer relevant for the latest residential plan for a smaller all-residential project, so “I think you can begin to understand why someone investing in a development like that would be troubled by something like this.” Roy Epstein, chair of the Select Board, told the meeting that a “no” vote on the article would kill the current residential plan and allow Northland to construct a project without improvements to affordable housing and other amenities the town had negotiated with Northland.

In an effort to resolve the funding impediment, the town agreed to remove the 1999 traffic limits and penalties in Zone 3 and 4 while receiving improvements to traffic signals at Olmsted and Pleasant and upgrading the signal at the intersection of McLean Drive and Mill Street through its negotiations. 

The principal critics of the revamped agreement said the town was losing an important deterrent to traffic sprawl in both Zones which would impact the surrounding neighborhoods.

Jolanta Eckert of Precinct 3, who authored the amendment, said rather than bring an article before the Town Meeting, the Select Board could simply sign a formal commitment with Northland declaring that it would not enforce the current management and mitigation plan in Zone 3, which would be sufficient to allow the necessary financing to be obtained. By retaining the TMMA, the town would hold a strong hand when McLean comes before the Planning Board with its plans in Zone 4, including a 90,000 sq.ft. She said that the educational building could house up to 2,000 students.

“[While] I strongly support the Northland Zone 3 proposal and and plan to vote to ensure its success, at the same time, I don’t want the town to unilaterally cede a key negotiating chip in the upcoming negotiations with McLean concerning Zone 4,” said Vince Stanton, precinct 2.

Yet it did not appear Eckert’s amendment had garnered support as the town and officials had countered the claims via email messages prior to Wednesday’s meeting. Belmont Counsel George Hall refuted Eckert’s claim a Select Board’s promise on not impose penalities or sanctions would meet the needs of financiers who required a change in the agreement that only the Town Meeting could impose. 

As for Zone 4, Clancy said the project will come before the Planning Board which will the final say on parking and traffic. In addition, several Town Meeting members pointed out some failings in Eckert’s argument pointing out that the Arlington School’s enrollment is currently 35 students, with the likelihood of a 2,000-student capacity “nonsensical.”

A majority of members voiced their support for the change in the agreement as it would keep the present Zone 3 housing plan which is seen as advantageous for Belmont. Rachel Heller, who is a member of the Housing Trust which led the Zone 3 negotiations for the town, said it would be hard to duplicate the concessions they received from Northland in 2019.

“Today, a 25-year-old traffic mitigation agreement created for a different development that was never built stands in the way of delivering on housing that will add revenue for Belmont affordability for residents downsizing options for seniors, and preserve Belmont’s ability to make development decisions in accordance with the state’s affordable housing law chapter 40B,” said Heller.

“We asked a lot from Northland,” said Heller, including 25 percent affordability throughout the development, the inclusion of rental units, no restrictions on household types purchasing or renting units as well as a commitment to all-electric dwellings.

“So I urge you to vote yes. Let’s give the green light to the homes that we need,” said Heller.

After nearly an hour of debate, the questioned was called and the amendment was soundly defeated. The vote on the article was a foregone conclusion.

The next Town Meeting will take place is mid-November as the town will seek to ratify Belmont’s MBTA Communities map.

‘What A Day! Supporters Gather To Break Ground On Town’s New Library [Photos]

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Photo: Groundbreaking for the new Belmont Public Library

“What a day!” proclaimed Clair Colburn, chair of the Library Building Committee,speaking before several dozen residents, volunteers, town and elected officials who gathered in a gravel bed where, by (give-or-take) Thanksgiving 2025, a 40,460 sf.-ft., two-story zero-net energy structure will open its door and become the new home of the Belmont Public Library.

Under a warm and sunny Wednesday morning, June 13, the building’s future transformed from blueprints and perspectives to heavy machinery and construction workers as library and town officials turned over soil during the official groundbreaking ceremony for the $39.5 million structure, with $5 million offset from 991 individual donor contributions.

“We are so happy to be celebrating the groundbreaking of this momentous project with all of you. There is not enough time to thank everybody who has helped bring this project to fruition,” said Colburn.

For Kathy Keohane, chair of the Board of Library Trustees, it’s been nearly a quarter century of quiet determination as she was involved with three earlier library proposals that fell to the wayside. On Wednesday, Keohane brought her toy “olympic” flame symbolizing three important aspects of the project: the journey, individual performances, and teamwork.

“We are on a journey. We’re at this milestone,” she said. “Most of all, this has been a labor of love and effort by many, many teams, individuals working together to make this happen.” She noted the work of Town Moderator Mike Weidmer in creating a building committee “that helped us get the right individuals with the right talent on the team,” and from the library’s leadership of Director Peter Struzziero and his staff “for all they do to make the library such a valuable, engaging place.”

Kathy Keohane, chair of the Board of Library Trustees, and Library Director Peter Struzziero

Finally, Keohane thanked “the residents and the patrons of the library. You have made us the 10 best circulating library in the state of Massachusetts. We are the little train that could behind giants of Newton and others but it’s because of your love for the library and what it means to you.”

State Sen. Will Brownsberger noted that “this generation of volunteer leaders, partnering with our wonderful professional staff, has driven a program of capital upgrade and improvement or replacement that was just very fundamentally necessary to being the community we want to be.”

Speaking for the Select Board, Vice Chair Elizabeth Dionne said the library will be more than a repository of media and books. “Perhaps its most important service will be to foster an ongoing sense of community as town demographics change, and we seek means a greater connection and belonging. And the new library will allow this to happen.”

Clair Colburn, chair of the Library Building Committee

“It will also serve as a visible signal of Belmonts commitment to community, whether that is supporting young children in their early development, parents needing support raising those children organization seeking space in which to meet or adults of any age who simply need to see a friendly face,” Dionne said.

“It will be a lynchpin of the town’s completely renovated, academic and recreational center,” said Dionne, joining the Underwood Pool, a new skating rink set to open in 2025 and the middle and high school.

With shovels in hand and ready for photographs, Colburn was prepared to “look forward to an incredible future. Thank you again for your support over the many years and onwards,” said Colburn.