Photo: Sami Baghdady, Elyse Shuster
Citing personal commitments, a pair of town government incumbents have decided not to seek re-election.
Selectman Sami Baghdady and School Committee member Elyse Shuster told the Belmontonian at Monday’s town budget presentation they would not be running to retain their seats on the respective committees.
“It’s about a quality of life,” said Baghdady, who noted he had spent the past 12 years as a member or the chair of groups including the Selectmen, the Planning Board, and the Warrant Committee.
“Now it’s time for me to focus my attention on my young family and my busy practice,” said Baghdady who is an Arlington-based attorney.
Baghdady, who help lead the Planning Board through the special permit process on the Cushing Village project, was completing his first term as a Selectman, having served as its chair and vice chair during his three years on the board.
Shuster was elected in 2013 to the committee. In 2016, she abandoned her seat to win the one-year term which remained after Laurie Graham resigned.
While she did take out nomination papers for this year’s town election, “I decided over the weekend that I wouldn’t run,” Shuster told the Belmontonian.
“A couple of commitments” prompted her not to run, she said.
Hi,
Thank you to both Selectman, Sami Baghdady, and to School Committee Member, Elyse Shuster, for your many years of dedicated service to our town.
Be assured that the countless number of hours that you both spent away from
your homes and families in order to make Belmont a better place to live did not go unnoticed and is greatly appreciated. You will be missed.