Townie Talk 02478 BELMONT NEWS, OPINION, HUMOR Townietalk02478@gmail.com
Townie Talk
So, after 4 weeks of a relentless cough, I ventured out to see “Get the Led Out” at Indian Ranch in Webster Ma. Good show. The Yuengling helped a bit with the cough. It was evident at this event that Budweiser is still being boycotted. It was a nice venue but needs a better sound system.
Winn Brook UFO???
Reliable sources say there is video evidence of the explosion heard last week in the Winn Brook area. The video purportedly shows a flash bang and is consistent with an M80 firecracker but also a meteorite. If it was a meteorite or an UFO it would have crashed into the Pond. The absence of people fleeing the area of said explosion on the video makes the M80 explanation less likely. There is no indication from ARES (a division of NASA) of any meteorite activity in the area. So, what crashed into the pond?
Brownsberger “Jimmy Carter” moment…
In a 1976 issue of Playboy magazine, President Jimmy Carter in an unsolicited comment admitted he had “looked on a lot of women with lust” and had “committed adultery in my heart many times”. Flash forward to June 2023, and Belmont’s own State Senator Will Brownsberger has volunteered that he is bi-sexual. Details were few outside of his family is supportive and his long-term marriage is intact. So is this Will Brownsberger’ s bizarre Jimmy Carter moment or is he getting ahead of a news story. Brownsberger says he has been in a monogamous relationship but gives little detail as to when he discovered he was bi-sexual, how he realized it, and at what point did he share that info with his wife.
TT has not reported on any of the alleged sexual affairs by public figures in Town to date because none of them can currently be linked to putting the Town at legal risk. Will has stated he has had a monogamous marriage… (not many politicians can say the same) which would make this a nothing burger except that Will has decided to make it a story. I am not sure how a bi-sexual living a close to 40-year monogamous heterosexual relationship furthers the bi-sexual movement but its his story to tell.
Maybe had he come out as Bi when facing Katherine Clark, he would have overcome the bias against White/Males in Democratic primaries and been in DC now.
Townie Goodbyes…
The Town lost Ed Jones, James Busa, and Kate MacNamara all in the past few weeks. Rest in Peace all.
High School Fees…
The Athletic fee for HS Fall sports is going up 8%. Students will be hit with a $485 participation fee. Meanwhile, the Busing fee will be reduced to encourage more riders. Good luck with that.
FY24 Budget…
While the Town side of the budget will see a cut from last year of over $1m… the school system will see a whopping $9m or 13.6% increase in funding. Concerned citizens are rightly questioning the spending habits by the SC and School Administration as enrollment numbers are still over 300 students shy of peak numbers from just a few years ago.
The State METCO budget is getting a measly 2% increase over last year. For a Democrat controlled State…. clearly this is a sign Democrats do not support METCO which does more to even the divide than the dumbfounded measures of eliminating advanced classes.
Golf…
Townie and PGA Gold Director Jay Monahan announced plans for the PGA to merge with the LIV tour. Say it ain’t so Jay. The Saudi Government was complicit in the 9/11 attacks.
Athlete sighting…
Rumors are floating that Alex Verdugo and Robert Williams are new Town residents. No Taylor Swift update but if you are just over the Pleasant Street line you might be close to some well-paid athletes.
Leaf Blower ordinance…
It is in effect. I believe the BOH is the enforcement mechanism. Good luck with that.
Political Nicknames….
Angus “Porta Potty” Abercrombie
Why? The young lad has an affinity for speaking at Town meeting but his rant against the Payson Park Music Fest (PPMF) and Porchfest included his alluding to his having first-hand knowledge of how messy porta potties can get. No one understood what that was about.
Mike “Lockdown” Crowley
Crowley… a former member of the Lockdown School Committee. More on him later as his amendment caused quite the kerfuffle at TM.
“Arrogant” Adam Dash or “King” Adam Dash
Once the cuffs of being a Select Board member were cut off… Dash unleashed at TM. More later.
Roy “The Professor” Epstein
Epstein’s use of relevant facts and research continue to rain down on the feel good spend and tax crowd.
Paul “Out of Order” Roberts
Paul has been called “Out of Order” at TM by the moderator almost as much as Ade “Move the Question” Baptista has called to move the question.
Christine “Feel the Pain” Doyle
One must wonder if the attack on PPMF and Porchfest was more “feel the pain” antics as previously proposed by Christine.
Jamal “Benedict” Saeh
Saeh who ran on a platform of providing a challenging curriculum for students… did an about face and voted to kill advanced Math opportunities at the Chenery in the name of Equity.
The last two weeks in Belmont politics…
PPMF and Porchfest Amendment
They were looking to be exempt from a fee to use the Town fields to put on their free not for profit music festivals. The total impact to Belmont’s budget was a couple thousand dollars total (about the same as the per household increase in taxes for FY25) and was narrowly written to include only nonprofit, no fee, music, and arts performances. How this went down…
The Blogging Belmont Mob of endorsed candidates overwhelmingly opposed the exemption (funny as they had no problem farting away $200k for a bike path study that may get built a decade or more from now and handed God or the Unitarian First Church $10k to fix a clock (Yes, a Church!!!). They also aggressively pushed for $289k from free cash for additional Sped funding but the $2,200 or so was a bridge too far and now Porchfest and PPMF are at risk. Future endorsements by BB will have the stench of the vote attached to them.
Adam Dash and Mark Paolillo went ballistic on PPMF founder Tomi Olson. Misogynists was being tossed around by a couple women in the auditorium. Anyways at one-point Paolillo’s face was redder than a Maine lobster in the boiler. Dash went on to end his attack by hoping someone would move the question so this could be voted down quickly. Arrogant maybe… but he was right. A huge majority of Town Meeting voted to imperil PPMF and Porchfest from continuing in Belmont. PPMF and Porchfest were told they could apply for waivers… newsflash “waivers were denied.”
The Porchfest founder made a cute comment that “they are taking names” on the vote. That was met with shrieks and hysteria by triggered Town Meeting members forcing Moderator Widmer to call the speaker “Out of Order”. I would like to buy her a beer but didn’t get her name. For those not in the loop… this entire vote was political payback. It had nothing to do with the merits. Just vengeful people who probably are getting back at society for being picked last for kickball or something.
School Committee chooses equity over academic excellence.
Advanced Chenery students will not be challenged in Math anymore as Meg Moriarty and Jamal Saeh reneged on campaign promises and have chosen to dumb down academics to achieve equitable outcomes among students. Not a joke… is what it is. Not enough Black or Brown kids would take the classes according to a consultant hired by the SC so advanced students will not be given the chance to strive and be challenged on their own level. TT has been a strong voice against the “E” in DEI and this is a prime example of what’s to come. Without naming names… I was told “equity” would never do such a thing by two prominent DEI advocates and I used this precise example. They were duped. Anyone with means that wants their child to learn and be challenged should consider alternative means of education.
Town can now enter 10-year lease agreements…
TM overwhelmingly voted to bypass the State mandate of 3-year leases to try and justify leasing EV Buses. EV buses cost a fortune (3x or so diesel), have expensive batteries, faster tire erosion etc so that the only way the Leasing company could try to make them attractive is by committing to a 10-year lease. That is like taking out a 10-year car lease because you can’t afford it. Make sure your kids sit in the front if they ride the buses… having seen an EV vehicle fire… they are fast and brutal.
Barney the dinosaur takes on Big Bird at Town Meeting…
What… let me explain? This was a fun one to watch. Mike “Lockdown” Crowley proposed an amendment to take another $289k from Free Cash to hire two new SPED teachers and spend $100k on a SPED program development (actual cost was estimated at $31k). The goal had merit… bring more Belmont out of district students back for in district learning but from there it became a comedy of errors.
Let me set the Stage…
Those in favor were from the “radical” progressive mob in Town led by my friend Paul “Out of Order” Roberts. Names like Annie Mahon, Tara Donner, Heather Rubeski, Amy Kirsch, Angus “Porta Potty” Abercrombie and the likes. They were joined by Jung Yueh, Jamal “Benedict” Saeh, and Jeff Liberty from the School Committee.
The opposition was essentially the entire Warrant Committee, Select Board, and 3 members of the School Committee (Moriarty, Checkoway, and Zuccarello) who we will call the Establishment progressives.
The one’s having the most fun were myself and the 16 other common sense TMM’s who had no egg in the basket knowing full well this was just a pre-cursor to what lies ahead after years of reckless spending. A failed override and a Town that will demand widespread change in how money is spent.
Some shockers…
The vote failed bigtime. 180-85 and the Roberts/Ralph Jones bromance is over now that the library is passed.
TMM Tara Donner called out the Warrant Committee and Select Board as not understanding education spending. She should have started with… No offense but… (Maybe Tara can do a guest editorial sometime on TT)
Roy “The Professor” Epstein completely annihilated Crowley’s presentation. Epstein pointed out that besides the school budget growing 13.6% y/y that the FY24 budget has $1m in unallocated funds and could very well get the money from those funds. He finished with the SPED study was estimated at $31k not $100k.
Paul “Out of Order” Roberts was called OoO by Moderator Widmer at least 3 or 4 times for essentially calling the Warrant Committee and Select Board dictators. Paul has been making the argument for years that the system is broken as he clearly articulated the “unelected, appointed warrant committee”.
Adam “The King” Dash clearly won this battle as he is the figurehead of the present establishment progressives. Roberts got smoked but savvy political minds recognize that Robert’s mob tends to be younger and more cult like so give it time.
Townie Stevie Rosales asked the $9m question… Why in a School system with 300 fewer kids are we increasing the budget by $9m (13.6%). He really shouldn’t ask relevant questions that force reckless spenders to think. They don’t like that, Stevie.
Townie Talk prediction….
The radical progressives want a Fall Override. The Select Board is already on record saying there would be no override in 2023 (or 2 of the 3 as Lovey wasn’t on at the time). Look for that to become a bone of contention between the two factions.
National News…
President Joe Biden is being investigated by the FBI for bribery and money laundering accusations. We now know the “Big Guy” is Joe Biden and calls for his impeachment are growing. The “dementia” excuse and likely Harris pardon are closer than you think. Meanwhile, President Trump was charged with 37 counts related to the handling of classified documents. He could face 400 years in prison. Bill Clinton’s hatchet man Sandy Berger was caught stealing classified documents and destroying them with scissors yet was offered a plea deal of a $10,000 fine. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who “BleachBit” over 33,000 emails after they were subpoenaed by Congress was never charged. Equal application of the law is clearly not occurring, and many Americans have lost confidence in the DOJ and FBI as a result.
Failure of Canadian Environmentalists to allow forest prescribed burns has led to recent fires engulfing 9 million acres of forest land and polluting the air across the US Northeast.
A Bear is on the loose in Arlington Heights.
Watch out Italy. A massive Volcano is nearing eruption stage just outside Naples.
Happy Father’s Day!!!