As you know, I wrote a letter endorsing Alexandra Ruban to be Belmont’s next Selectwoman. Alexandra is smart, and strong – she has a businesswoman’s eye for details and numbers, patience and a facility for absorbing complex matters quickly. She’s predisposed to action and problem solving, rather than talk and endless debate. I think Belmont – so very rich in “committees” and “task forces” and “study groups,” but lacking when it comes to concrete action – desperately needs that.
In my endorsement letter, which I cross-posted here and on the Belmontonian (and Belmont Citizen Herald), I noted that Alexandra’s inspiration to run for office came from her efforts learn about the Town’s solid waste recycling contract, which recently came up for renewal. After being told more than a year ago that the town was welcoming input from residents and considering other options in anticipation of the end of its current contract, Alexandra was surprised to learn that the town simply renewed its contract with its solid waste contractor for two more years in a process that did not include soliciting any competing bids.
I wrote in my letter of endorsement that the renewal without competing bids wasn’t without precedent, but had happened before in recent years. In my endorsement letter, that thought ended up as this line:
More outrageous: the Town has been doing so for more than a decade! Alexandra knew she could do better for the Town. A campaign was born.
That’s a fine bit of prose – my prose, to be exact…in a letter expressing my personal sentiments and reasons for endorsing a candidate.
Why does that matter? Well, subsequent to writing that letter of endorsement for Ms. Ruban, my neighbor Roy Epstein has pointed out in an op-ed to the Belmont Citizen Herald that six years ago, in 2010, the town issued an RFP (request for proposal) and solicited competing bids for the solid waste recycling contract. In the end, the town decided to stick with our current vendor in a contract signed in 2011. My language regarding the “decade of no-bid contract renewals,” therefore, was not accurate. There were competitive bids taken in the last decade – five years ago. I stand corrected and apologize. Accuracy matters – in reporting, in letters of endorsement and on the stump.
Having said that, it is important to note that the “more than a decade” observation in my endorsement letter was mine, not Alexandra’s. Ms. Ruban never made the “more than a decade” comment to me or anyone else. Nor has her campaign. The statement was based on my understanding of the history of the town’s dealings with its contractor, based on conversations that I had with individuals in town (not Alexandra) who were also interested in reevaluating the town’s solid waste and recycling program. One thing is clear: I was not quoting Alexandra, nor was I quoting her campaign.
So, while I am setting the record straight here on my “more than a decade” comment, it is also good to set the record straight on Mr. Epstein’s observation – in his letter to the Citizen Herald – that “Alexandra Ruban and her supporters have asserted that Belmont has used no-bid solid waste and recycling contracts for more than a decade and wastes the town’s money.” Simply put: that statement and others like it are inaccurate.
Let the record show that neither Ms. Ruban nor her campaign have ever mentioned “a decade of no bid contracts” nor has that claim ever appeared on her campaign web site. Nor has Alexandra said that Belmont is wasting taxpayers’ money. Her position is that the town simply doesn’t know if it is wasting money or not with its solid waste contract, because in its most recent contract renewal, it did not solicit competing bids. So, while Roy and others might want to reassure the public that the contract was renewed at “favorable prices,” I’m not sure how he (or we) can know that, given that no other vendors were given the option of bidding for the work. Favorable – compared to what?
For the record, these are Alexandra’s exact words, from her position statement on Transparency.
“And I personally encountered this when I went looking for information about Belmont’s curbside recycling contract. While I was able to locate and speak to knowledgeable and helpful town employees, it wasn’t clear to me why the town had simply extended its contract with the recycling firm at a higher annual cost…without soliciting bids from competing firms. The reasoning behind the decisions of our professionals and elected officials and the steps that finally led them to sign off on no-bid contract was inaccessible to me as a citizen.”
Mr. Epstein might argue that attributing my words to Alexandra was an understandable oversight – that (of course) I speak for Alexandra and the campaign. But the fact is that I don’t speak for either. I speak for myself. This blog or letters and opinion pieces I write on the Citizen Herald or Belmontonian represent my words and opinions- nobody else’s.
Of course, it is entirely possible that Roy just got a bit carried away in his letter and took a rhetorical step too far. Maybe he should have given the letter to the editor one more read through before hitting “Send” to triple check his facts. I forgive him, just as I’m sure he’ll forgive me. It happens.