Last Minute Withdrawal Of Citizen Petitions Sideswipes Annual Town Meeting Lineup

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Photo: Belmont Select Board (from left) Taylor Yates, Matt Taylor, Carol Berberian.

Mere minutes before the Belmont Select Board was to review and vote Friday, April 17, on the 38 articles in the annual Town Meeting Warrant, they – along with the Town Clerk and Town Moderator – received a briefly worded e-mail from Paul Joy (Precinct 7), who authored six citizen petitions on the warrant.

“I am ready to officially inform you and town meeting members of my intention to withdraw the following citizens petitions. Article 9, Article 10, Article 12, Article 13, and Article 14,” said Joy, with no further explanation. 

Joy did not explain his decision to the email’s recipients or the Belmontonian. 

Coming less than three weeks from the May 4 start of the town’s legislative body, it would appear Joy’s action would be received with a sigh of relief, as removing five likely time-consuming articles would cut one or two of the eight nights scheduled to debate and vote on the historic number of articles.

But in reality, Joy’s last-minute retreat had pulled the rug from under the town’s preparation after spending nearly a month carefully constructing the meeting’s schedule. With the citizen petitions being some of the first of the articles brought before the 288-member assembly, their removal so close to the opening night has thrown the meeting’s agenda way out of whack.

According to the town, simply moving up the articles in a “next man up” approach will not work.

Select Board Chair Matt Taylor said the placement of the citizen’s petitions was based on the detailed arguments and communication and documents from the petitioners, where “we made plans to accommodate and support every resident’s right to submit a petition article.”

The board purposely scheduled the citizens petitions – which are traditionally more contentious articles that take time to explain and debate – in early May, which would allow town committees and boards still working on important budgetary and bylaw articles the additional time to allow the necessary work to “get their things done,” said Taylor.

“We’re doing what we can with the information you have, but I can’t move anything up that’s not ready. We could do the [town] budget right now, but the Warrant Committee – Town Meeting’s financial “watchdog” – is not ready, and that’s based on where the petitions are,” said Town Administrator Patrice Garvin. 

Adding to the disarray, “[w]e’re going into a school vacation week where some people are unavailable or have made other plans,” further contracting the time [the town and boards] can commit to the articles,” said Taylor.

“We spent a considerable amount of time on the articles with the Town Council. We had two meetings [with the Town Moderator Adam Dash] to discuss order,” said Garvin. “It’s just the amount of work that’s just been committed to the meeting that’s in two weeks.

“I’ve said repeatedly over the years that citizen petitions are not just these simple things that come before us. It’s hours of work involved, hours of work that aren’t even focused on other things [in the administrator’s office],” said Garvin.

“Now it’s completely blown apart,” she said, adding that she doesn’t know how the town and she can meet the pace.

Joy’s act has the town scrambling, forcing an extraordinary meeting with the Town Moderator, Select Board, and Town Administrator on Patriots’ Day Monday holiday to undo the damage.

Joy introduced his citizen petitions as an attempt to increase transparency and citizen empowerment.

  • Article 14: Home Rule Petition to Elect the Planning Board 
  • Article 9: Annual ‘State of the Town’ Report and Public Forum.
  • Article 12 Resolution Urging Increased State Aid to Municipalities. 
  • Article 10: Mandatory Independent Audit and Public Presentation
  • Article 13: Full Disclosure of Revolving Funds

In Friday’s email, Joy said he is standing by Article 11, which would require a fiscal impact statement and public hearings for zoning articles. Joy added he anticipates two friendly amendments in the following days to accompany the measure but would not reveal who those authors are or what the . 

What Joy did reveal at Monday’s meeting was the article is being backed by an ad hoc residents group that failed in its effort to defeat the Belmont Center Overlay District article at a Special Town Meeting in March.

“I will say that the residents that were a part of For Better Belmont Zoning were quite supportive of this given proposal, and they also felt that it was incredibly important, especially as it related to future potential zoning articles and proposals that would come before Town Meeting,” Joy told the board.

The Belmont Center Overlay District was approved 172 in favor, 82 opposed, with 7 abstentions.

While Joy did not give an explanation for the withdrawal when contacted by the Belmontonian over the weekend, an encounter on Monday, April 13, was a likely catalyst for the removal of five of his six articles. Joy appeared before the board Monday to present each article in what was seen as an informational overview.

Paul Joy (Precinct 7) at the 2025 annual Town Meeting

“Why am I proposing these changes?” said Joy, addressing the board. “Too many residents feel unheard. Public comment is limited to 15 minutes. Meetings start at 5:30 p.m., when families are rushing home from work or after-school activities, and for more than a year, residents have really been unable to comment on the vast majority of public agenda items at this board.” Joy said his petitions are “the embodiment of citizen empowerment. They are our way as citizens [that] it’s time to separate people from issues and the challenges of the assumptions that I feel are holding us back.”

Joy proceeded to give an account for each article. An elected Planning Board, which the majority of Massachusetts municipalities employ, which “creates competition [seemingly referring to neighboring communities] which we desperately need in this town”; a yearly town summary requiring a “clear” report on finances that will be live streamed so residents can ask questions; a non-binding resolution that urges the state to “raise municipal aid to 30 percent”; the full disclosure of revolving funds that mandates annual and/or quarterly reports showing every fund’s purpose, its balance, its revenue, its expenditure, and its vendors for more than $5,000. As an example, Joy pointed to the field maintenance revolving fund, which included $11,500 for goose control.

“I found myself asking, who do you pay $11,500 for goose control? I don’t know the answer. And if I don’t know, then how is an ordinary resident supposed to know?” queried Joy. 

But rather than simply being a passive listening post, the board took on the persona of Prof. Kingsfield grilling a first-year Harvard Law student. Under an unexpectedly severe cross-examination, the board’s probing questions left Joy at times struggling to defend his proposals. 

The board and Garvin pointed out a State of the Town report would simply be duplicating existing facts and statements while forcing the already thinly staffed administrative office to produce a very labor-intensive report with little new being presented.

“There’s tons of data. It’s how it’s organized or not organized. Curating that data is a full-time job,” said Taylor, as Garvin said since more than 60 percent of the town’s budget is under the School Committee’s purview, it would be very difficult to create without its “buy-in.”

After the board and Garvin dismantled Joy’s overture for an extensive disclosure of the town’s revolving funds, Yates bluntly said, “I don’t really understand the particular interest in revolving funds. This feels like a fishing expedition, and I’m not sure what it’s for.”

“A lot of the revolving funds are quite small. So I guess the question is, what problem are you trying to solve?” said Garvin.

“Maybe if there’s a problem you’re trying to solve, maybe start with the Warrant Committee or the Town Accountant,” said Yates.

The night also included Joy’s article that remains in the Warrant, requiring a fiscal impact analysis and public hearings for new zoning articles. Joy attempted to bring up Ira Morganstern (Precinct 7) to present the article as a “co-sponsor,” only to be rebuffed by Taylor, who said, “We’re working with you, the official submitter.”

“Don’t we want to get to the right answers?” said Morganstern. The answer to his query was simple and matter-of-fact: ‘no.’ “We’re not taking public comment,” said Taylor.

Joy said the article would require the town administrator and finance director to create a report that would estimate short-term (1 to 3 years) and long-term (5 to 10 years) effects on town revenue, costs to the town, and their net fiscal impact. The Planning Board would be required to hold a public meeting dedicated to the report.

It did not take long for the board and Garvin to begin to disassemble Joy’s argument, pointing out the proposed report’s nebulous framework to determine a currently unclear verdict.

“How would you measure the impact of zoning by law in a one-to-three-year time frame? Asked Taylor. After Joy gave a non-specific answer, Taylor zeroed in on the real issue with the article.

“How would you measure that? Or who in town is qualified to make that assessment?” he asked Joy.

“It’s not for me [to find the] department, said Joy, although he did believe the Office of Planning and Building or the Town Administrator, in his opinion, would be acceptable.

“So you think the town administrator is the qualified person to do this?” asked Taylor, as Garvin non-verbally expressed her doubt Joy’s answer was what Taylor and the board were seeking.

Taylor then exercised the article, using real-world examples to pinpoint the difficulty of reaching a comprehensive result.

“We have trouble projecting our budgets out five years, given the variance and stuff. Zoning is quite tricky, because we’re in a competition with all of our neighboring towns,” said Taylor, referring to Joy’s resolve for an elected Planning Board.

“I guess if we view it as a competition with other towns, what kinds of zoning changes would make us more competitive with other towns in your assessment? Reduction of parking requirements? What about taller buildings?”

Vice Chair Taylor Yates asked Joy how he would determine the fiscal impact of altering a setback, which typically is the minimum distance – usually just a matter of feet – between a building and a property line. 

“Who has the final say on the fiscal impact analysis? There are a bunch of different ways to do it. You have a set of assumptions. I have a set of assumptions. Matt has a set of assumptions. Carol [Berberian, Belmont’s newly elected board member] has a set of assumptions. Ira has a set of assumptions. Whose set of assumptions fulfills this requirement?” Yates asked Joy.

Garvin, who will be doing most of the heavy lifting in creating the report, said an unintended consequence of the article would require financial analysis on major structural zoning articles in this year’s warrant, including Site Plan Review and Construction Management.

“How would I go about doing a financial impact study on Site Plan Review?” asked Garvin.

When Joy said the report would determine any major increase in school-age children or revenue loss to the town, Garvin countered that she could “make a financial argument for anything you want.” While Joy was talking about zoning that leads to development, Garvin saw it impacting “the process of how the town works.”

Yet it was not all critical reflection of Joy’s arguments. Berberian, who is a former Planning Board member, asked if the board and town can “build off what we have in place.” 

“Could we improve on the financial modeling? Probably, if we look at it in a slightly different direction. I think that there’s always the opportunity to improve some of what I had heard about this, the viability of our zoning in terms of the financial impact. I do think there is some relevancy to that,” said Berberian.

After approximately an hour-long grilling, the writing was on the wall as the citizen petitions had scant support from the executive branch.

And in a final ironic moment, the Select Board reached out to Joy to prevent what he would do five days later.

Because of the high level of work required of town staff, “we ask residents to please work with us, work with the staff, because there may be an answer to what you’re trying to accomplish that already exists,” said Taylor. 

“Please have a conversation with us, because we’re juggling a lot. We’re trying to do a lot with a little. And this is a case where I think if you had coordinated with town staff, we could have addressed this without a petition and without the additional reports from Town Council.”

Berberian said she appreciated the intent behind a lot of what Joy brought forward, “and I do think that we can do a lot with collaboration with you.”

“The door’s always open,” she said.

Belmont Town Election: Dash Sprints Past Incumbent Crowley In Moderator Race

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Photo: Adam Dash at Town Hall on Tuesday

In the course of his campaign for Town Moderator, Adam Dash knocked nonstop on the doors of 3,000 homes in blizzards, rain, and cold resulting in frosebitten fingers. He also slipped on the ice slicing off the tip of a non-frostbitten finger, was bitten on the knee by a dog, and once a wild turkey attacked him.

And on Election Day, Tuesday, April 7, Dash was drenched in the early spring snow shower and resulting rain forcing him to twice change his outfits. That was likely the reason the normally dapper Dash showed up Tuesday night at Belmont Town Hall to hear the election results in rather casual attire – an oversized scarf with a bold graphic design, ‘dad’ slim jeans, and a black unstructured jacket – topped by a knit cap replacing his trademark fedora.

In the end, Dash’s Odysseus-like journey through Belmont’s eight precincts ultimately resulted in electoral success as the former two-term member of the Select Board won the only contested town-wide race on the ballot, defeating one-term incumbent Michael Crowley, 2,090 to 1,770, for the moderator’s post.

Official results are located here.

In a hard fought contest, Dash took home 53.9 percent of the 3,989 voters who cast a ballot while Crowley received 45.8 percent, a closer delta than many anticipated.

“Running against an incumbent is always a big deal. I didn’t take that lightly,” said Dash in a crowded second floor of Town Hall where Belmont Media Center set up a live broadcast location. Looking back at the campaign, Dash said his election advantage was “people understand who I am. I’m not somebody who’s unknown. People have been complimentary to me during my run” of his long previous service in town, specifically serving six successful years on the Select Board.

“Voters saw that I will bring a great deal of experience from the executive side to the administrative side of town government,” he said. “That meant a great deal for many residents.”

“It makes me happy to work with the people again. I really like going out and meeting people one-on-one and just talking to people day after day, hour after hour, up the stairs, down the stairs. But I do enjoy it. I like hearing from people. And sometimes people would say, ‘Oh, have you ever thought about this?’ And I pulled my phone and type it in? No, I hadn’t, but I will now, and so I got a whole long list of ideas from people that I’m gonna have to start sifting through tomorrow and deciding what to do with them.”

Also attending the results reading at Town Hall was Carol Berberian, who became a Belmont Select Board Member when the polls officially closed at 8 p.m. as she ran unopposed to replace Elizabeth Dionne on the board.

“I am very excited about tonight. It’s been an interesting journey being in an uncontested race. I was very fortunate to have a lot of support from many different people in the community early on and that has really inspired me to connect with other people.”

Berberian said her connections as a life-long resident and her experience with the town’s zoning bylaws – as a member of the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals – will be useful in crafting regulations that will “make it easier to open businesses in town and continue to have our existing businesses to thrive, while welcoming new development that preserved the character of the community and bring some much needed additional revenue.”

Both Amy Zuccarello and Jung Yueh were re-elected unopposed to the School Committee.

Town Meeting Election Results

Only three of Belmont’s eight precincts had contested races, with more than 12 candidates. The most interesting outcome came from Precinct 2 where five new members were elected on Tuesday. These include former Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin, long-time Belmont High hockey coach Dante ‘Muzzy’ Muzzioli, Linda Nickens, Laurie Schenkel and Alice Kaanta. And only one vote prevented half the precinct being flipped as incumbent Peter Magni’s 254 votes just beat out Amy Trotsky’s 253 for the final seat. Incumbent David Zipkin finished 14th.

Running opposite to 2, Precinct 6 re-elected the 12 incumbents with a pair of non-incumbent candidates missing out, including the former Planning Board chair and ZBA member Jeffrey Birenbaum.

Precinct 8 candidate Meenal Bagla, known for her involvement in PTA leadership positions, impressed by placing second with 354 votes, only topped by Angus Abercrombie (409 votes) in Precinct 8.

Topping the vote tally throughout town was Dash (Precinct 1) with 419 votes followed by Precinct 6 Elizabeth Gibson (415 votes) and Abercrombie.

On the other end of the ballot counting spectrum, both Scott Brinker and Deepak Garg needed just 10 write-in votes to secure three-year terms on Town Meeting representing Precinct 7.

Belmont Moderator Announces Run For Re-Election

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Photo: Belmont Town Moderator Mike Crowley

With a contender ready to place his name on the ballot, Belmont’s town moderator has announced he will be seeking to retain his post in the 2026 Town Election.

“I’m excited to officially announce that I’m running for re-election,” said Mike Crowley, who is seeking consecutive terms as the town’s moderator, who presides over town meetings as well as appoints members to the Warrant Committee. 

Crowley will meet former Select Board member Adam Dash for the one-year position in the town election to be held April 5, 2026.

“Last year, I stepped up to take on this role becauseI believe Belmont deserves a town government where every voice matters. I promised to modernize town meeting, broaden participation, increase transparency, diversify appointments, and bring new voices into town government,” said Crowley’s 

Crowley highlighted his accomplishments, including standardizing the hybrid town meeting, which he said allows participation by a wider range of residents, and backed a Moderator’s Advisory Committee to provide direct member input on improving town meeting. He also pointed to his appointments to the Warrant Committee – including parents and underrepresented voices – to help tackle Belmont’s long-term challenges and recruit new candidates for Town Meeting.

“I’m running for re-election because this progress is only the beginning. With your support, we can keep strengthening Town Meeting and building a Belmont that works for everyone,” said Crowley, a retired US Government official who has served as a Town Meeting member and on the Warrant and School committees.

Former Select Board Chair Announces Run For Town Moderator: Interview With Adam Dash

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Photo: Adam Dash

There will be more than one contested town-wide race at the Belmont Town Election as Adam Dash has confirmed he will seek the Town Moderator post currently held by Mike Crowley.

“I am in the race,” Dash told the Belmontonian.

The Goden Street resident, who served on the Select Board for two terms from 2017-2023, filed paperwork to create a candidate’s campaign committee on Nov. 14. Former School Committee member Amy Checkoway is the committee chair and Matt Lennon is the treasurer.

Town Moderator is a one-year term position. Nomination papers will be avaliable to potential candidates in the days after Thanksgiving, according to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

The Town Moderator In Belmont presides over Town Meeting and manages its proceedings, according to the Belmont Town Meeting Member Handbook. Main duties include setting the meeting’s agenda in coordination with other officials, making sure meetings run smoothly and fairly, and appointing members to several important committees such as the Warrant and the Comprehensive Capital Budget committees.

The Belmontonian held a short impromptu interview with Dash at the opening of the Belmont Sports Complex on Saturday. 

Belmontonian: Why are you running for Town Moderator?

Adam Dash: “I believe I have the skills to handle the position. It actually plays into my wheelhouse with the main four functions of it: One is making legal rulings on the fly during the Town Meeting. And I am a lawyer who does municipal law and ran large meetings in a hybrid fashion which I did for years on the Select Board. Second is experience appointing people to committees, and I did that for six years, appointing probably 300 to 400 people onto some 60- odd committees. Third, I will also be like a mentor and senior person to bounce ideas off of for other elected officials who can’t talk to each other due to the Open Meeting law. And, four, I think that I could do some things to improve how town meeting is functioning. I was the chief of the executive branch as chair in the Select Board, and I made fundamental changes and improvements to that during my time, and I would like to do that as the chair of the legislative branch.”

Something I will focus on will be appointing Warrant Committee members to make sure that we had balance geographically in town, and that we have representation of other people in town.

Adam Dash, candidate for Town Moderator

Belmontonian: One area the current moderator has emphasized is beefing up the Warren Committee in its role of financial watchdog for Town Meeting. What do you see the role of the Warrant Committee and would you make any changes to that?

Dash: “As someone who was for nine years on the Warren Committee, including being its vice chair and two subcommittee chairs, I am intimately involved in how the Warren Committee operates, and I can tell you that they do Yeoman’s work that nobody ever sees, as far as providing budgetary help and information, interviewing department heads and making recommendations to town meeting. I believe Town Meeting takes that very seriously.”

“Something I will focus on will be appointing Warrant Committee members to make sure that we had balance geographically in town, and that we have representation of other people in town. We have a large Asian community. When I first was on the board, there were probably almost no Asian residents on any of the committees. There were no women on the Zoning Board of Appeals. Those are things that I went out and talked to people, to get them to apply, so we could actually make the committees look like Belmont. These are things that I’ve done quite a lot for very long time, over a lot of committees.”

Belmontonian: Under your leadership, what would the Town Moderator’s relationship be with the border community?

Dash: “I think [Town Moderator] has been a good sounding board. For instance, when I had some ideas and I wanted to talk to somebody, I could not talk to the other Select Board members outside of a meeting. I also did not want to put the Town Administrator in any questionable position, because she has to work for all the Select Board members. However, I could talk to the Town Moderator [Mike Widmer], not to get policy ideas, but to just sort of get a sounding board. I think I have the experience in town from my time on the Zoning Board and the Warrant Committee, the Pool Building Committee, High School Building Committee, Structural Change Impact group and the Capital and the CPA committees, and the Select Board. All of those things give me a very broad, big view of the big picture. And as a lawyer who gives counsel to people, I think that I could fulfill that role, which is an unofficial, unwritten job of the Moderator that is not as robust as it could be.”

Belmont Town Election will be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2026.

Crowley Prevails In Recount For Belmont Town Moderator

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Photo: Mike Crowley with the results of the Town Moderator recount which confirmed his victory, April 17.

When many believe the United States is undergoing a crisis of confidence in government, Belmont witnessed the reaffirmation of small ‘d’ democracy when, on Thursday, April 17, the town successfully proceeded – without allegations, shouting, or threats – to confirm the result of the race for Town Moderator.

After nearly three-and-a-half hours in the Town Hall auditorium, one-time school committee member Mike Crowley was declared the winner (again), receiving 2,136 votes to 2,125 for former Select Board Chair Mark Paolillo. Crowley’s winning margin increased by an extra vote from his Town Election total on April 1, while Paolillo’s tally remained the same.

“I would like to thank the Board of Registers for their work” in promoting democracy, said Crowley after Registrar of Voters Chair Bob McGraw read the results from the town’s eight precincts.

Crowley expressed his gratitude to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman and her staff which ran the recount, his attorney, Dennis Newman, and the volunteers who came out in force to work as his vote observers. 
Attorney Newman has some history with recounts: he was the lead Democratic attorney observing the critical Palm Beach review of votes in the historic Bush/Gore Presidential recount of 2000.

The day began with detailed instructions from Kristen Gagalis, an Associate at Anderson & Kreiger, which is the town’s legal counsel. The recount of nearly 5,000 votes was conducted at card tables with a reader facing a calculator. The candidates were allowed an observer at each table who could challenge any ballot they felt was incorrectly tabulated. The Registers would judge the disputed ballot.

While Crowley came with two dozen volunteers serving as his observers and tabulators, Paolillo did not attend and did not appear to have sent his own set of reporters. Despite the lack of advocates on the floor, Paolillo actually picked up a vote after the first precinct—the precincts were reviewed in order from one to nine—was completed, reducing Crowley’s margin to single digits at nine. 

But by the completion of Precinct 3, Crowley’s advantage had returned to 10 votes, as his observers kept a keen eye out for any mark or smudge that could go the candidate’s way. At times, Gagalis—using her pre-legal experience as a middle school teacher on cafeteria duty—would firmly remind the room the process was best served without unnecessary chatter. 

Just before noon, the final two precincts were swiftly counted without a large increase in disputed votes, which Paolillo would have needed to overturn the initial result.

“I’m very happy with the results. They confirm that the original outcome was the right one,” said Crowley.

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.

Town Election: Yes On Override; Wins For Taylor, Widmer, Moriarty And Kraft; Assessors Question Too Close To Call

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Photo: Warden Robert McKie reads out the preliminary results from precinct 2 on Tuesday night

Belmont voters approved a record $8.4 million Proposition 2 1/2 override by a comfortable 1,000-plus vote margin at the annual Town Election held on Tuesday, April 2.

The final tally was 5,120 in the yes column and 4,050 nos as voters accepted the positive argument from the “yes” campaigners to preserve public services and safety and protect Belmont schools from losing educators and maintain its outstanding reputation.

“I think it’s that people love their community,” said Erin Rowland, the campaign manager for Invest In Belmont, the “yes” campaign, when asked the compelling reason voters where willing to increase the property tax just three years after rejecting a smaller override request.

”We want the to see the town thrive and continue to be successful, and that’s the reason people came together. What was so heartwarming about working on the campaign was the outpouring of support from a wide range of residents,” she said in a crowded second floor lobby in Town Hall where candidates, observers and many candidates came after the polls closed at 8 p.m.

Invest in Belmont Chair David Lind said the town has “been through a hard few years and we were in a tough spot financially. I believe that [the override] gets us back onto a better track so we can all work together and keep Belmont as the town that we all know land love.”

Rowland, who was a winner in her race to be selected to Town Meeting from Precinct 6, said she fully understood that Tuesday’s results will be difficult for many residents, especially senior on fixed incomes.

”We are one community and we want to do everything we can to see Belmont implement senior [property] tax relief. We understand that need and it’s very real and we’ll do everything that we can to promote that,” she said.

In the night’s nail biter, voters approved making the Board of Assessors an appointed body by a mere eight votes, 4,218 to 4,210. With 50 ballots – from residents overseas and in the military as well as provisional ballots – yet to be counted, the race is too close to be called.

Final results will be released by the Town Clerk’s office by Friday or Saturday. Unofficial results as of Tuesday at 10 p.m. can be seen here.

In the race to replace Mark Paolillo on the Select Board, Matt Taylor defeated his Warrant Committee colleague Geoff Lubien by 600 votes, 3,851 to 3,248, with newcomer Alex Howard taking home 659 votes.

“I began [this campaign] genuinely wanting to connect with people and doing that in a deeply personal way,” said Taylor after feeling “so separated from our local government and our residents coming out of the pandemic. So I knocked on nearly 1,700 doors. I had a lot of one-on-one conversations. It was very grassroots.”

”I have a lot of hope and I’m ready to work because this is a level where you get to make a real positive difference about the people around you,” said Taylor. “We have to reach out to residents and invite them in to have a broader two-way discussion. It brings us together. This is an “us” thing.”

Voters acknowledged incumbent Meg Moriarty’s successful tenure as the two-term chair of the School Committee by returning her to the board. Moriarty topped the three-person field for the two available three-year seats garnering 5,354 votes.

“[Winning] means I get to keep talking about all of our great students and it’s all about doing best for every single student in our schools,” Moriarty said at Town Hall Tuesday night after the results were read by Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

With her return to the School Committee, Moriarty will provide a continuity on the six member body “that helps tremendously” as it “helps keeps the momentum moving forward” on several of initiatives that Superintendent Jill Geiser has proposed.

Joining her on the committee will be first-time candidate Matt Kraft. The Brown University professor took home 5,176 votes, while recent Belmont High School graduate, current Emerson College student and Town Meeting member Angus Abercrombie collected 2,792 votes.

“I hope to take the opportunity to listen and learn both from my fellow school committee members and Belmont residents about our priorities and build on the three year strategic plan that the district is developing,” said Kraft who arrived to Town Hall with his wife and two kids after enjoying Taco Tuesday.

Speaking as the new body on the committee, “I think part of the hard work is to work collaboratively and collectively. And I look forward to those conversations that I know some will be difficult. But that’s the job. We all have a shared commitment towards strengthening our schools for all the students and in building towards, frankly, a brighter future.”

Challenged for the first time in 16 years, long-time Town Moderator Mike Widmer defeated former Warrant and School Committee member Mike Crowley, 4,656 to 3,248.

”People understood that experience is really important, and that running Town Meeting is very demanding. I’ve done it for all these years and voters felt that I had done well in the position,” said Widmer who announced earlier in the year that this term would be his final one as moderator.

Belmont Town Election Ballot Set With Three Competitive Town-Wide Races And Two Big-Time Questions

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Photo: The town election will take place on April 2

It’s official. Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman announced last week she had certified the candidates who will be on the ballot for the annual Town Election on Tuesday, April 2.

Voters will ponder over three competitive town-wide races with half of the eight Town Meeting precincts along with two big-time questions on the ballot.

In the race for the all-important town body, two well-known members of the town’s financial watchdog will take on an absolute newbie. Colleagues Geoff Lubien and Matt Taylor on the Warrant Committee are out campaigning along with newcomer Alex Howard.

There’s an exciting mix for two seats on the school committee. Incumbent and current chair Meg Moriarty is seeking to return for her second stint on the board. At the same time, first-time candidates for town-wide office, Gen Z Town Meeting member Angus Abercrombie and noted education economist and professor Matt Kraft, are in the three-person race.

In his first competitive race on the ballot in more than 15 years in the post, Mike Widmer will face former school and warrant committee member Mike Crowley for town moderator.

On the legislative side of the ballot, half of the eight precincts – in a weird coincidence, they are the first four precincts, 1-4 – have exactly 12 residents running for a dozen three-year seats. A single precinct, number 5, came up short with only ten on the ballot. Surprisingly, precinct 7, which historically had difficulty finding candidates, will have 14 running with five non-incumbents, while precincts 6 and 8 will have 13 seeking 12 seats. Some of the best races will be for several partial-term seats: three will be running for a single-year post in Precinct 1, with two campaigning for the seats in Precincts 6 and 8.

In many ways, it will be the ballot questions that will bring out the voters in April. The outcome of the $8.4 million Prop 2 1/2 override to supplement the capital budget and the town and school operating budgets – Question 1 – will have long-term consequences for town and school services as well as personal finances. There are advocacy committees for yes and no votes. The second question will change the elected board of assessors to an appointed one. That measure passed at the January Special Town Meeting.

In Mike Widmer’s Final Election For Moderator, A Challenger Emerges For The First Time

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Photo: Mike Widmer

Mike Widmer will have a challenger – his first ever – in his final campaign to return as Town Moderator.

Filing his paperwork with the Town Clerk’s Office on Feb. 5, former school committee member Michael Crowley will seek to replace one of Belmont’s longest-serving public officials in what Widmer told the Belmontonian will be the last time his name will be on the ballot.

First elected to the one-year term in 2008 when he ran to fill the open seat previously held by Henry Hall, Widmer has been unopposed in 15 subsequent town elections. Before his current post, Widmer has been a member of the Warrant Committee from 1993 until 2008 – three years as chair – and a Town Meeting Member since 1981.

Crowley was a school committee member for four years, eight years on Town Meeting, and six years on the Warrant Committee. He also served on the Long Term Capital Planning Committee, which drafted the recommendation to form the Comprehensive Capital Budget Committee.

Mike Crowley (courtesy photo)

One of the best descriptions of Town Moderator’s functions is by Town Meeting Member Paul Roberts in his “Blogging Belmont” preview of the 2023 town election.

“In addition to presiding over the annual Town Meeting, the Moderator plays a critical role in setting the agenda for Town Meeting – working with the Town’s various committees and professional staff, residents and Town counsel to set the warrant.”

“In Belmont, the Moderator also has substantial appointment powers. They appoint all members of the Warrant Committee – the Town’s main financial oversight committee – as well as three members of the seven person Capital Budget Committee, a majority of the Bylaw Review Committee and members of the Permanent Building Advisory Committee. The Moderator is also tasked with appointing members to special purpose committees, such as [building committees].”

Once Again, (Special) Town Meeting Will Be A Virtual Affair

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Photo: Mike Widmer, Belmont Town Moderator

While many of the town’s board and committee meetings have returned to in person, the most significant of those will, once again, be held virtually after Belmont Select Board approved a recommendation by Town Moderator Mike Widmer to hold the upcoming Special Town Meeting virtually over the internet.

The three-day meeting is scheduled for Nov. 29, 30 and Dec. 1.

The reason Widmer said for the continuation of meeting “on-line” was two fold, first pointing to rising numbers of Covid-19 infections returning as the weather turns colder.

According to the website Your Local Epidemiologist, the start of a new Covid wave in Western Europe has begun as hospitalizations are uniformly increasing. “As we’ve seen throughout the pandemic, not only are infections increasing, but so is severe disease,” said the website.

Given the U.S. has mirrored European trends throughout the pandemic, a wave in the U.S. is likely coming. And specifically in Boston, “there are concerning signals with sudden increases in viral wastewater levels.”

With the likely return of virial infections, a large indoor setting with 300 people would prove challenging. Town Meeting would take place for four hours over three days either in the new High School auditorium or at the Chenery Middle School, said Widmer. And while a majority of Town Meeting would be comfortable in this setting, “clearly a fraction of Town Meeting members, particularly those who are seniors and immunocompromised would have some risk,” said Widmer.

And while that population would have a choice to attend a movie or eat at a restaurant, “it’s not fair to tell them to choose to not to meet their civic obligation and not attend Town Meeting.”

“I think the prudent thing to do is to continue to meet virtually. We have been successful with the Town Clerk [Ellen Cushman] in doing this well and professionally and with civil debates,” said Widmer.