Endorsement: Dave Rogers Will Fight For Belmont

As a Belmont resident for seven years, a Town Meeting member and a mini-van driving father of three children in the Belmont public schools, I believe that we need a strong advocate in the State House and a hard working politician who will put Belmont first. That’s why I will be casting my vote for Dave Rogers to be Belmont’s next State Representative on November 6th.

Dave Rogers

Vote Dave Rogers for State Representative!

Throughout a long and hard-fought Democratic primary and, now, in the general election, Dave has proven to me that he has the tenacity, intelligence and dedication that Belmont needs from its State Representative. I strongly encourage those reading this (*) to join me in casting their vote for him.

As Will Brownsberger has shown, the job of State Representative isn’t for the faint of heart – or for those who would prefer to put their feet up and rest for a couple years. In five years as our Representative on Beacon Hill, Will worked mightily on behalf of our town: ensuring we received our proper share of local aid after decades of being short-changed, fending off cuts to public transportation and working tirelessly on issues of local concern such as preserving the Belmont Uplands. As I cast about for candidates to support in the race to replace Will, that tenacity was the quality I was looking for most. I found it in Dave Rogers.

Facing long odds against a local favorite in the Democratic primary, Dave was undaunted. He did coffees beyond number, he knocked on doors – more than 2,500 to date. Word got around. I started hearing about this guy Rogers from my better-informed friends in town early on. In mid July, I finally met Dave when he dropped by a coffee I hosted for Elizabeth Warren’s campaign. Sharp and intelligent, Dave convinced me that he understood the issues that mattered most to Belmont and would be there to fight for us. Some three weeks later, on a steamy August afternoon, there was Dave on my doorstep again as part of a neighborhood canvas. With the temperature and humidity well up into the 90s, Dave and his young campaign aide were, I believe, the only souls stirring on Cross Street that sultry afternoon: ringing doorbells, shaking hands and sweating through their shirts. In other words: doing the hard work that it takes to win. I gave him one of my daughter’s thermoses filled with ice water and sent him, happily, on his way.  The deal was sealed.

As I see it, successful politicians aren’t just the sum of their admirable qualities, their connections or their policy positions. At the end of the day, we elect these people to represent us and to fight for issues, policies and laws that will make our communities better, stronger and healthier. Dave Rogers has convinced me that he is the candidate who is ready to fight for Belmont. I hope you’ll join me in voting for him on November 6th.

Sincerely,

Paul F. Roberts

Town Meeting Member, Precinct 8

(*) Editor’s Note: I’m not so arrogant as to think that endorsing Dave on my blog is at all equivalent to endorsing him in a letter to, say, the Citizen Herald. This was submitted to the BCH on Oct. 22 as a letter to the editor (and on time, I might add), but did not get published, so I’m posting it here.