On The Move: Half Of Belmont’s Precinct Will See Changes As Part Of Census Reprecincting

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Photo: The proposed new precinct map of Belmont for 2022.

A boost of population from a condo development along Route 2 will require one of the town’s largest residential complexes to “move” into a new home precinct if the Select Board approves a new electoral map as part of the reprecincting of Belmont.

The town’s new precinct map in addition to the hows and whys that led to the four changes to the current chart will be explained at a public meeting to be held on Thursday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. as part of a Zoom Webinar.

In a preview sent to Town Meeting members from Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, the big news from Belmont 10 percent increase in residents since the 2010 US Census will see a pair of precincts “cross” current geographic boundaries to even out the populations in all of Belmont’s precincts as they increase from 3,100 to 3,400 residents.

The town’s Reprecincting Team – made up of Cushman, assistant Town Clerk Meg Piccione, GIS Manager Todd Consentino and the Director of Community Development Glenn Clancy – worked with a proposed map created by the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office with the goal is to balance the population of the precincts to ensure equal representation by Town Meeting Members, while considering the neighborhoods, and geographic dividing lines.

The team’s recommendation to the Select Board on Thursday will be precinct lines for Precinct 1, 2, 6 and 8 would be changed and Precinct 3, 4, 5 and 7 would remain in place.

The current Belmont precinct map with proposed changes in pink.

Precinct 6, which saw a drop in residents in the past decade, will expand north across Washington Street to take a good chunk of Precinct 1 from Long Avenue to Fairmont Street, and Chenery Terrace, a small part of Bow Road, all of Lincoln Street, a small part of Washington Street and Goden Street to Long Avenue. The shift also includes all of Road, Cedar Road, Lambert Road, Highland Avenue and Lincoln Circle.

With the inclusion of the Acorn Park Drive and its transitory population, Precinct 8 will see three parcels leaving – two smaller parts moving to Precinct 2 – with the largest portion going to Precinct 1 as it will cross the commuter rail tracks north to appropriate the Hill Estate which includes Vale Road, Hill Road and Pond Street, Yerxa Road and Bailey Road.

The largest practical change for Town Meeting is that members in precincts that have change will require the entire group of Town Meeting seats must be elected to represent the newly-drawn precinct. For Belmont that equates to a massive 36 seats open for election per those precincts at the 2022 Town Election on April 5.

Thirty six people will be elected in each of the precincts to three, two and one year terms determined as follows: the 12 candidates with the highest number of votes will be elected for the three-year term seats, the next group of 12 winning candidates will be elected to the two-year term seats and the final group of 12 winning candidates will be elected to the one-year term seats.  

Once the Town Clerk and the State are satisfied with their joint draft map of the precincts, Cushman will review the proposed draft with the Select Board at its Oct. 18 meeting which must vote at its Oct. 25 meeting to approve the final map and legal descriptions for official submission to the Commonwealth by Oct. 30.

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Oct 14, 2021 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

Passcode: 407802

Or One tap mobile : 

    US: +13126266799,,83908658063#  or +19292056099,,83908658063#

Or Telephone:

    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

        US: +1 312 626 6799  or +1 929 205 6099  or +1 301 715 8592  or +1 346 248 7799  or +1 669 900 6833  or +1 253 215 8782

Webinar ID: 839 0865 8063

    International numbers available:https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcbGQLdhV4

With Census Underway, Belmont Push All Residents To Be Counted

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Photo: US Census 2020

With nearly 58 percent of residents already checked in, Belmont town officials are eager to have those remaining citizens join their neighbors and be counted in the 2020 US Census.

Belmont Assistant Town Administrator Jon Marshall is asking residents to take the time to fill out the census form whether it’s online, over the phone or through the mails – they don’t even need to wait for a traditional census worker to come by your dwelling.

“With the flexibility and support of Belmont residents, we will achieve a complete and accurate count which helps guide funding decisions for things like health centers, roads and emergency services,” said Marshall.

Census data is used to determine legislative districts, determine state representation in Congress, calculate how federal funding is allocated to states and municipalities, and develop vital information that helps us understand our town, attract new businesses, and identify areas of need for support services, health care, and more. 

Both phone and online options are available in 13 languages, and assistance in many more languages is available on 2020Census.gov.

Mandated by the U.S. Constitution, the Census is a once-in-a-decade count of every person living in the United States, regardless of their citizenship or immigration status. The 2020 Census asks nine questions and takes less than ten minutes to complete.

The information provided to the Census is confidential and protected by federal law. Answers can only be used to produce statistics and cannot be used against you by any government agency or court.

Belmont has created a page with some helpful information. On the page are a number of quick links including: How’s Belmont Doing: Track Here, This allows residents to see the town’s response rate.

See the tracking page at the Town’s Website at https://www.belmont-ma.gov/2020-census