Belmont Appoints New Treasurer, Human Resources Director

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Photo: Belmont’s new adminstrative staff: Treasurer Leslie Davidson (left) and Kelli Spencer

The town of Belmont has filled a pair of critical administrative positions that have been empty for several months.

On Monday, June 5, the Select Board will ratify Town Administrator Patrice Garvin’s selection of Leslie Davidson of Beverly to be town treasurer and tax collector, while Kelli Spencer of Brockton has been appointed the town’s Human Resources director.

The appointments were announced at the June 5th Select Board meeting held before Town Meeting.

The annual salary and benefits for each position will be announced later.

Davidson has been treasurer in Lynnfield since November 2019. [Read about her experience before her appointment in Lynnfield in a profile in ItemLive.com] Davidson has nearly ten years of municipal experience in the treasurers departments in Marblehead and Wenham and 14 years at Beverly National Bank as an assistant cashier. Davidson has an associate degree from North Shore Community College and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration manga cum laude from Endicott College.

Spencer is the human resources generalist in Norwood since September 2019 and has twice been asked to be the town’s acting human resources director in the past two years. She worked in human resources in both private industry and for the US Army before coming to Norwood. Spencer enrolled at Bridgewater State University, graduating in 2012, and last month obtained her Master’s in Public Administration from Suffolk University. She is last year’s recipient of the Massachusetts Municipal Management Association’s Gerry Whitlock Memorial Scholarship, a $2,000 award given to a Massachusetts graduate student who plans on a career in local government. Her dog is named Whiskey.

Whiskey, Chief Joy Officer

Hewitt Named Treasurer ’til June 30; Select Board Makes Organization Changes Leaving Paolillo As Chair

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Photo: The Belmont Select Board: (from left) Roy Epstein, Chair Mark Paolillo, and Elizabeth Dionne

Jennifer Hewitt, the town’s financial director and assistant town administrator, has been appointed Belmont’s Treasurer/Collector by Town Administrator Patrice Garvin during the annual organizational meeting of the Belmont Select Board on Friday, April 7. Hewitt replaces Floyd Carman, who held the post for 18 years.

“I think what we’re going to do is really just have [Hewitt] be the treasurer right now,” said Garvin. “There’s a lot to do in that office.”

The appointment will be short as Hewitt’s tenure will last until June 30, at which time the town will hopefully have appointed a permanent successor, according to Garvin. The board ratified Hewitt’s appointment as of April 5, a contingent on her receiving a public official bond.

The Treasurer’s position became an appointed post after voters approved a ballot measure changing the job from an elected one at Tuesday’s annual town election. The proposed salary for this new support staff position will be between $88,000 to $125,000 given the level of experience, with a possible signing bonus due to the tight job market.

Earlier Friday, the board made some “minor changes” to the body’s rules and regulations, said Paolillo, one which affected the length of his term as its chair. The board adopted a new day for its organizational meeting, which traditionally was the day after the annual town election, and moved it to July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.

According to Vice Chair Roy Epstein, it would be preferable that a new chair and vice chair is not designated before the annual Town Meeting – which takes place from May to June – as it would be “unnecessarily disruptive.”

“Chairs are involved with Town Meeting preparation … and the vice chair, who is a member of the comprehensive capital budget committee, has been involved with the development of the capital budget,” he noted. Under the new rule, Paolillo will continue as chair until July 1, 2023, when Epstein will “rotate” into the top spot, and newly elected Board member Elizabeth Dionne will become vice chair.

“And Mark, you either go off to a well-deserved retirement (Paolillo’s term is up in 2024) or you become the most incredible member in history and go for another chairmanship [in 2025],” quipped Epstein.

Dionne said under the new system, a chair will experience two Town Meeting cycles before moving into the chairmanship, which she believes can be “very helpful.” The changes were passed unanimously.

Another change Epstein proposed was ending office hours held by board members as they don’t pertain to meetings of the board. “People can contact us plenty via email. Board members are on their own and are free to hold hours.”

Paolillo noted from experience that residents poorly attend those events.

Epstein’s final recommended change is that board members do not need to attend the committees and boards, which they are non-voting liaisons, as opposed to those bodies, such as the Warrant Committee, in which they are sitting members.

“I think the liaison structure is simply not working … and it’s terribly inefficient because we spend an awful lot of time in meetings” in which the board representatives are essentially members of the audience. Epstein believed it’s more useful for those entities to “submitted a report periodically … on a need-to-know basis.” Ideally, the most efficient method of communication would be “a short-written memorandum prepared by the chair.”

While she believed the recommendation would free up the board to prepare to do some serious strategic thinking on the town’s future, Dionne said she had established relationships with certain committees, including Economic Development which she’d like to continue attending voluntarily.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Photo: A 2014 photo of Town Treasurer Floyd Carman

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

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

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

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

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

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

Not If, But When: Select Board Ponders Best Date For Town Meeting Vote On Appointed Treasurer

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Photo: The Belmont Select Board

Mark Paolillo, chair of the Belmont Select Board, summed up the prevailing feeling of appointing all future town treasurers at the end of the public forum on Oct. 27.

“It’s not if, but when,” Paolillo said, proclaiming the board’s support of what they have called ”the most important” of the 19 inter-related recommendations on revamping the town’s governmental structure by the Collins Center.

The treasurer’s post is currently held by Floyd Carman who is up for re-election in the coming town election in April 2023. Carman is yet to make an official decision on running for another three-year term, some town and elected officials have said publically that he would not seek another term.

The board will decide at its Nov. 7 meeting the date it will bring the appointed treasurer article before Town Meeting. The earliest would be Nov. 29 during the first night of the Special Town Meeting.

The board has previously supported moving forward toward implementing many of the recommendations, including some that have already been acted upon, such as changes to the budget process and the creation of a Financial Committee.

Presented to the board in June and at the Special Town Meeting in November, the Collins Center report bluntly stated Belmont was one of the most, if not the most, decentralized governments in the Commonwealth with a bevy of independent boards and positions. This structure had a negative impact on how the town managed its finances.

The Select Board and others, from Warrant Committee to interested residents, believed transforming the town’s treasurer from an elected to an appointed post was essential as its role in managing many of the town’s significant financial transactions: issuing bills, managing taxpayers accounts, cash and debt management, investments and running the department.

Moving from an elected to the appointed position is spelled out in Massachusetts General Laws: First, Town Meeting must vote to approve the change at least 60 days before the town’s annual election in April. Second, the measure must pass at the annual election. If someone runs for the three-year post, which is up for election in 2023, the incumbent will serve until a permanent appointment is made.

The new non-elected treasurer will be appointed by the Town Administrator.

The board is wrestling with the question of when to present an amendment before the Town Meeting. For those seeking a quick resolution to the question – such as board vice chair Adam Dash and Warrant Committee Chair Geoffrey Lubien – the change isn’t rocket science, so there is no reason for a delay.

“We should put it on the warrant, and if it fails, it fails. Because if we don’t put it on the warrant, we start kicking this down the road as we did for 11 years,” said Ann Helgen of the Warrant Committee, referring to a 2011 Department of Revenue report that advised the town to appoint the treasurer.

Chair Paolillo and others such as Jack Weiss believe not just Town Meeting but town voters need to ”buy in” on the change, which can best be accomplished with other forums and discussions on the issues, building support through educating the public on the Collins Center report. Bill Andersen suggested that more report recommendations be implemented concurrently with the Treasurer’s position to gain momentum in passing the needed changes.

Some residents continue to push for an elected belief that someone resides in the “Town of Homes” with the expertise and drive to step into Carman’s shoes without much problem.

”I wanted it to remain independent and a Belmont resident,” said Judith Sarno. ”I think our track record shows Belmont residents elect qualified candidates,” pointing to the first-time elected Light Board.

But that belief runs counter not just to the Collins Center’s recommendation but also to best practices that nearly eight of ten communities in the Commonwealth – from ”teenie weenie” 500-person villages to the largest cities – appoint their financial chief.

“This is not about Floyd; it’s not about any one person. It’s about coming into the 21st century,” said Helgen.

While the bulk of the public forum focused on the pros and cons of an appointed treasurer, politics did come into play by some residents. Saying she wanted to call out the ”elephant in the room,” Judith Feinleib said she would oppose an appointed treasurer since the post would be filled by the current town administrator, Patrice Garvin. While she’s willing to accept a designated candidate, ”I want at least the treasurer to report to an elected body.”

Saying she wanted to provide greater nuance to Feinleib’s comments, Warrant Committee Secretary Elizabeth Dionne said a lot of the opposition to the appointed town treasurer is particular to Garvin.

“A number of us have seen egregious and dishonest and abusive emails circulating around her … that very explicitly states opposition to the elected treasurer in connection with her position, that this was a power grab and an effort on her behalf.”

In a bit of fun, Dash said a solution would be to place an appointed treasurer article on every town meeting warrant “until the members had enough and gave up.”

Elected Or Appointed: Hybrid Public Forum On The Future Of Town Treasurer, Thursday Oct. 27

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Photo: The poster for the hybrid public forum this Thursday.

The Belmont Select Board will be holding a public forum on Thursday, Oct. 27, at 7 p.m. to discuss an article that will be voted on at the Special Town Meeting – running from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 – concerning the proposal to have future Town Treasurers be appointed rather than elected.

The article comes from a recommendation of the Collins Center in its report on the government structure of Belmont.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the meeting in-person at Belmont Town Hall, 455 Concord Ave., in the Select Board Conference Room or participate remotely on Zoom. Belmont Media Center will be broadcasting and live-streaming the event. 

To view the meeting agenda and Zoom information please click here or visit the Select Board page of the Town website.  

Officially On The Hook: Selectmen Approve Bonding For New 7-12 School

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Photo: The latest from Perkins + Will architects, facing Clay Pit Pond.

There was the debate, the vote by residents, the approval of Town Meeting. And on Monday, Jan. 7, the Belmont Board of Selectmen made it official in a five-minute signing: the town’s taxpayers are now on the hook to pay for the new 7-12 school building set to open five years down the road.

And the final dollar amount that’s on Belmont’s bill was calculated by Town Accountant Floyd Carman at (drum roll, please) $212,764,911. 

That number is the difference of the total project cost set by the architect Perkins + Will and general contractor Skanska at $295,159,189, subtracting $1,750,000 approved by Town Meeting last year for preliminary design and $80,644,278 in a state grant approved by the town’s partner, the Massachusetts School Building Authority, on Aug. 29, 2018. 

If for whatever reason, the project expenses overrun the projected cost, the selectmen will be required to seek the additional funds from Town Meeting, a prospect Carman believes would not be an enjoyable one. 

Carman told the selectmen the town is set to make its first borrowing of $100 million in March which taxpayers will see in February 2020. The second borrowing for $85 million will take place in March 2021 with its impact felt in February 2021. The final short-term borrowing of $27 million will be in March 2021. The borrowing will hike taxes on a $1 million home by $1,800 in February 2022.

Town Election ’17: Carman Seeking Re-Election as Treasurer

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Photo: Floyd Carman.

Belmont Town Teasurer and long-time resident Floyd Carman told the Belmontonian this week he will be running to retain his post as the town’s manager of its financial assets and liabilities and tax collector.

Now in his 12th year in the post, Carman is known for his ahearance to conservative financial principles which he says is one reason the town has maintained the gold standard Triple A rating from Moody’s, the bond credit rating firm, for most of a decade. 

Carman was first elected treasurer in 2005, winning a close race over Danelia Boccia. He has run unopposed since.

Born in Cambridge, Carman spent four decades with John Hancock, reaching the position of vice president before retiring in August 2005. The Brighton Street resident matriculated at Bentley College and received his MBA in Finance from Western New England College.

Belmont Takes Advantage of Low Rates to Bond $29 Million

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While the low-interest rate environment promoted by the Federal Reserve over the past five years has dampened residents appetite for bonds, the same condition has been a boom for municipalities with good credit ratings when selling their debt on the open market.

Using its top-ranked “triple A” credit rating, Belmont’s Treasurer and Tax Collector Floyd Carman was able to receive eight bids for nearly $29 million in municipal bonds that will include financing construction and upgrades to the Belmont Light substation that will be located on Flanders Road.

The winning bid for Belmont’s bonds came from Morgan Stanley offering an average interest rate of 2.951 percent, Carman told the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, April 22.

“That is a good deal for the town,” said Carman, noting the low rates will result in a significant savings to taxpayers which will be felt on Belmont’s fiscal bottom line.

The bond will pay for:

• $26,100,000: Belmont Light substation construction.

• $482,000: Water main replacement.

• $30,000: A school department vehicle.

• $890,000: a ladder truck for the Fire Department.

• $500,000: a new fire engine.

• 960,000: Harris Field replacement.