School Committee member Dan Scharfman is the latest to pick up papers to run for a seat on the Board of Selectmen, following the decision by current member Angelo Firenze not to seek re-election. Scharfman is the third person to step forward after Matt Sullivan of the Board of Library Trustees and Andy Rojas...
So…hopefully you all know by now about Will’s victory in the Democratic Primary last night. If you’re hearing it for the first time now, I’d refer you to this write up in the Belmont Citizen Herald, or this one at The Globe (onerous paywall). After that, though, I just saw this excellent analysis by Franklin...
I don't think its any surprise that, of the four, Will garnered the endorsement of both the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald - quite a feat, as the two are hardly kindred spirits editorially. Still, both papers focused on what I've found to be Will's strongest trait as well: his pragmatism, strong...
Nobody was smiling at last night's Warrant Committee meeting, least so the scores of concerned parents worried about cuts to music, art and foreign language instruction, who were told by Board of Selectmen Chair (and candidate) Ralph Jones that the School Administration and School Committee were lying to them, hiding money, and favoring grown...
Town Meeting is a great (and low-stress) way to get involved in town politics. Interested? The League of Women Voters is hosting an information session on January 14 at 7:30PM to talk about what it means to be a Town Meeting member and provide tips on running.
The rancor over President Obama's speech to children tomorrow doesn't reflect well on either side. As is often the case in brush ups like this, the needs and opinions of the kids in question have been pushed to the side...the better to clear space for the grown ups to fight. Hopefully President Obama's...
The Belmont Citizen Herald is reporting that Belmont's legal counsel has issued a response to the Middlesex District Attorney that claims town officials who met behind closed doors to formulate plans to discuss the consolidation of School and Town services were not doing so in violation of the State's Open Meeting Laws.
If nothing else, the Wellington reminds us all that investing in our public schools -- investing in the future of Belmont -- is something that's just...good. It enriches us all far beyond the meager costs we pay (around $1 a day, on average, for the new Wellington school).
Bella English's excellent story about Belmont's Burke family and their struggle to raise three lovely daughters who were born with Sanfilippo syndrome, a very rare and fatal degenerative brain disease, put a very human face on the otherwise sterile and bureaucratic machinations on Beacon Hill, where talk of "reductions in services" and "necessary...
An estimated $1.3m in stimulus money will help stave off cuts to staffing and materials on the school side and, coupled with some savings from attrition, let the town squeak by for one more year without needing to raise property taxes.
