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.

Board Of Health Recommends June Town Meeting Segment Stays Virtual

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Photo: The new Belmont High School auditorium where Town Meeting will likely not take place in 2022

The Belmont Board of Health is recommending the second segment of the 2022 Town Meeting remain virtual, according to a discussion at the board’s monthly meeting on Monday, May 9.

The recommendation now goes before the Select Board for a final decision.

The Town’s Health Director Wesley Chin said he meet recently with Town Moderator Mike Widmer and Town Clerk Ellen Cushman to determine if is possible for the town’s legislative body to meet safely for the three scheduled nights in June when Town Meeting will review and vote on budget articles.

Chin noted to the board that Covid cases have surged in the past month with the CDC placing Middlesex County in its ”high” category for infection.

With the infection risk elevated and best practices for holding an indoor meeting includes people spaced six-foot apart from each other, Widmer and Cushman said the two locations large enough to hold approximately 300 Town Meeting members and staff – the new Belmont High School and the Chenery Middle School auditoriums – are unable to provide the needed separation.

Board member Donna David said she was informed that a possible hybrid option – on site participation with a virtual option or using both auditoriums – was not as an option as the town’s Information Technology department told her a tech solution doesn’t exist at this time to make such a plan work.

Despite Decline In Covid, First Segment Of Belmont Town Meeting Will Be Virtual

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Photo: Mike Widmer, Belmont Town Moderator

While many people are hailing a return to normalcy after two years of Covid-19 restrictions, one of Belmont’s annual traditions will for the third time be presented virtually due to health concerns.

“I am recommending to the Select Board that our upcoming Annual Town Meeting be held remotely,” said Belmont Town Moderator Mike Widmer in a memo emailed to Town Meeting members by Town Clerk Ellen Cushman on Friday, May 18.

Widmer said he will bring his recommendation before the board at its Monday, March 21 meeting.

Widmer noted the decision will only effect Segment A – the non-budget agenda on the warrant – that begins May 2. He did strike a hopeful note saying Town Meeting could meet in person in June for the the fiscal portion “if [Covid] cases continue to decline significantly.”

The long-time moderator said the decision was made “reluctantly” after meeting with town officials, health experts and moderators from other towns.

“Personally, I would much prefer to meet in person. While we have successfully conducted the Town’s business using remote access, we have missed the personal and social connections of meeting in person. The debates, the camaraderie, the faces, the laughter, the applause, even the groans are all part of our local democracy, and are largely missing in virtual meetings,” said Widmer.

But after consultation with Belmont’s public health officials, Widmer did not believe it is safe for 300-plus individuals to meet in a confined space for four or more hours over several sessions. While many members would be willing to take the risk, there are those who themselves or family members continue to be susceptible to the virus and its potentially deadly effect.

While some towns’ legislative bodies, such as Needham, Reading and Winchester, will meet in person in the spring, Belmont has two distinct disadvantages to do the same. First, Belmont’s 294 Town Meeting Member body is larger than all but a few towns, and, second, its available indoor spaces have more impediments than most other municipalities.

For example, if a recommendation by heath officials is followed to leave an empty seat and row between participants, only 178 people could meet in the Chenery auditorium and 215 in the new High School theater. And an attempt to convene in the Wenner Field House would be quite costly as the athletic floor will need to be covered and audio/visual equipment installed.

“Many of you will be pleased with this decision, many not. I do hope you will understand that it was made in good faith after many conversations and much reflection. I hope you will bring that same good will to Town Meeting where we will be discussing important and likely contentious issues,” said Widmer.

Three ‘Modest’ Proposals Frame New Regs For Town Meeting Roll Call Votes

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Photo: Moderator Mike Widmer discussing changes to the roll call bylaw with the Select Board

The most impassioned moments of the 2019 annual Belmont Town Meeting didn’t involve a vote but how they were reported. And next week, Town Meeting members and residents will hear and comment on changes to the roll call bylaw sponsored by three mainstays of town government.

At this year’s Town Meeting a group of members sought roll call votes on the outcome of several articles including measures that passed overwhelmingly on a voice vote.

Unlike the usual aggregate vote when just the grand total of yea and nay are presented to the meeting, a roll call requires each member’s vote to be recorded and made public. With electronic voting in Belmont, member’s names are projected on the main screen for the assembly to see how each member voted.

While roll call proponents said knowing how a member voted is an expected part of representative government, others called out the rarely invoked process “harassment” and “vote shaming” by revealing who may have voted against “popular” measures.

The town is holding a public meeting to discuss proposed Roll Call Bylaw changes on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7:15 p.m. at the Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.

It culminated with a vote favored by the pro-roll call caucus going down to defeat during the roll call after initially passing with an aggregate tally. Soon after, there was some confusion on who could ask that the article be reconsidered, resulting in a decision by the moderator that left Town Meeting in a kerfuffle for a few days.

At a recent Select Board meeting, representatives of the Town Clerk’s Office, the Town Administrator and Town Moderator presented an initial draft article which they will bring to the fall Special Town Meeting in November supporting, as moderator Mike Widmer describes it, three “modest” proposals that will clarify and codify what constitutes a roll call vote.

“The proposal is based on the informal survey of Town Meeting members after the annual meeting … and we have done our best to reflect the will of the majority of members,” said Widmer.

Assistant Town Clerk Meg Piccione announced the proposed changes to the bylaw:

  • a roll call will be automatically conducted for the final action on any article or motion that requires a 2/3 majority vote.
  • an automatic roll call will be done when a motion or article is passed by fewer than 10 aggregate votes.
  • If a member requests a roll call vote for any other article, the measure will require 50 supporting members, up from 35.

Widmer noted the bylaw change also includes redefining reconsideration – when a matter that was voted on is brought back before the Town Meeting for a second time – which was also an issue at the annual meeting. The new bylaw will only allow a member who voted in the majority be allowed to request a motion to reconsider.

Widmer said he does expect some to question the group’s bylaw change and possibly challenge some aspects of the new bylaw.

“We’re under no illusion that there won’t be any amendments to this proposal,” said Widmer. “But our hope is to have …the one article so we can make it a smoother process rather than having one citizen’s petition for an article and another for something else.”

Advise And Consent: Town Meeting Opens Budget Season With Roll Call Q&A

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Photo: Mike Widmer, Belmont’s Town Moderator.

While the second half of Belmont’s annual Town Meeting is dedicated to all things budgets and numbers, the reconvened gathering of the town’s legislative body tonight, Wednesday, May 29, will have the opportunity to give its “advise and consent” on the contentious matter of roll call votes.

The evening’s appetizer is six questions presented by Town Moderator Mike Widmer to the approximately 290 Town Meeting members to obtain an “informal sense” of the body regarding the parameters and procedures for recorded votes.

During the first session of Town Meeting in April, roll calls were requested on a series of votes including several which the articles passed by sizable margins. While many seeking recorded votes said their goal was greater transparency by elected members, others viewed it as “vote shaming” (there’s an app for that) to point out those who made unpopular votes.

The answers to the questions will be “strictly advisory and non-binding” and used to inform Widmer, the Select Board and “others” whether to consider any potential articles on the topic at a future Town Meeting.

The questions include yes or no answers to when an automatic roll call should be used instead of anonymous vote (all the time vs only on close margins) and what is the threshold percentage or number of members needed to have a roll call and whether to use percentages or a member count.

“Town Meeting seems quite divided on the issue of roll calls, some arguing for roll calls on every article while others wanting to raise the 35-person requirement,” said Widmer.

“I have no way of knowing how many support which position and of course there are lots of alternatives beyond these two positions. I think it will be helpful to get a sense of [Town Meeting] in order to develop a proposal with the Select Board to be presented at the fall Town Meeting,” said Widmer.

While the objective of the pre-meeting Q&A is to find the sense of Town Meeting, the decisions could dampen or accelerate citizens petitions seeking to force the issue.

An article at fall Town Meeting on the future of the hows and whys of roll call voting will likely be driven by the Select Board. And so far the three-member board is keeping an open mind on the issue.

“We haven’t made any decision to take any action at this point,” said Tom Caputo, chair of the Select Board at Tuesday’s groundbreaking for the Belmont Middle and High School. “But we’re pleased that [Widmer] is putting those questions in front of town meeting and looking to get their feedback and we’ll take action from there.”

“I think the [Select Board] wants to make sure that we are helping to support town meeting and ensuring that we are both achieving accountability, but also minimizing some of the more acrimonious activities than we’ve seen in in the last couple of Town Meetings,” he said.