Spend some money…
The Belmont Center Shop local event is this Tuesday December 5th from 4pm-10pm. Did I mention that “A chocolate dream” was rated best fudge in New England by TownieTalk three years running.
Menorah Lighting
Yes, there will be a Menorah lighting this Saturday at 6pm. Email luna@jewishab.com to RSVP. The Town Christmas Tree was lit November 30th with a special appearance by Saint Nick.
Christmas Movies…
Just an FYI, Eric Stonestreet (Cam Tucker from Modern Family) plays Magnus Antas (Mad Santa) in Season 2 of the Santa Clauses on Netflix. Tim Allen plays Santa.
Select Board Race
Rumors have Matt Taylor joining the race to replace Mark Paolillo after his tumultuous term ends. That now pits Geoff Lubien (Current WC chair) against Matt Taylor, a relatively new face in Town and recent WC member.
DEI Strikes again…
If you are a regular reader of Townie Talk then you know to read between the lines. Last issue was a call to action for Parents to pay attention to what’s happening in the schools. An excessive focus on DEI has to date taken away advanced math classes at the middle school and prohibited a statement from the schools acknowledging the ethnic cleansing of Israelis by Hamas. But what else… a new State mandate
Early Literacy Screening. Effective July 1, 2023, each school district shall at least twice per year assess each student’s reading ability and progress in literacy skills, from kindergarten through at least third grade, using a valid, developmentally appropriate screening instrument approved by the Department of Education (DESE).
Why is this important… This new test requires reporting. Parents whose children fall into the bottom 25th percentile (Nationally) must be notified by the schools. One would think Belmont with all 4 elementary schools ranked in the top 30 Statewide would have little to worry about. Let’s just say read between the lines. Belmont children deserve better. This is a problem that should be a top priority in any public school but let’s just say the attention of leadership is elsewhere like say DEI materials. TownieTalk can inform but its up to Parents to take back control of their schools.
Child Rape in Belmont…
Rickland Powell, age 59 of Belmont MA. was charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery of a child under the age of 14, distributing obscene matter to a minor, four counts of aggravated rape of a child, four counts of rape of a child with force, and posing a child in the nude.
A few comments…
Many of us learned during the Catholic church abuse scandal that so many children were not believed when they spoke up. The courage of this child to speak up and their Parent to go to authorities is beyond commendable. They likely have saved many others from becoming future victims.
Nearly 70% of child sex offenders have between 1 and 9 victims…at least 20% have 10 to 40 victims. An average serial child molester may have as many as 400 victims in his lifetime. (InPrevOrg)
The police work was fast and meticulous and even though as a society we need to say “alleged” until proven guilty in a court, the evidence is overwhelming and should lock Powell up in life. There is a lot more to this story that will come out in time.
Rest in Peace…
Mildred E. (O’Neil) McCarty, 87, a longtime Belmont resident passed Nov 22. Millie grew up in the Kerry Corner section of Cambridge and moved to Belmont with her husband (the late Thomas McCarty Jr.). She was one of the shrinking numbers of people who stuck around once their kids finished school. Rest in Peace Millie.
Other notable deaths…
Sandra Day O’Connor who in 1981 became the first female Supreme Court Justice in the USA.
Rosalyn Carter, wife of US President Jimmy Carter, and huge advocate for mental health.
Henry Kissinger (called Belmont home for many years) and Nobel Peace prize winner back when they mattered.
Civil Service
Remember House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying,
“We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”
Flash Forward to Belmont November Town Meeting forcing the Belmont Patrolmen and Superior Officers Unions out of Civil service with no say.
Retiring Select Board member Mark Paolillo on not revealing a replacement plan instead saying…
“Trust Us”
Did it matter that there was no promised replacement plan? Did it matter that there was no financial study to show the new costs associated with leaving a free State run plan? Did it matter that the vote would be a change in contract with the Union without collective bargaining? Did it matter that Swampscott Mass did the same thing and filling positions has been harder?
Maybe some of the reason it’s harder to get candidates to come to Belmont might be that we have a well-founded reputation as being anti-police. This latest union bashing vote doesn’t help our image.
SANTA’S Naughty List
Roll Call on voting to Exit Civil Service with no financial study or replacement plan presented. Those who voted Yes and their precinct numbers. Anti Labor, Anti Police or just lemmings who do what they are told by the Select Board. Whatever answer they tell you is nonsense because they have no known replacement plan. Bernie Madoff also said to “Trust him”.
Olumakinde Adeagbo 1 Leslie Aitken 2
Claudia Albert 4 Mike Atlas 7
Jennifer Ausrotas 1 Ade Baptista 3
Edward Barker 2 Jessica Barnard 5
Yes, voters to remove Police from Civil Service continued…
Karen Bauerle 6 Claus Becker 5
Joe Bernard 3 Marty Bitner 2
Kathryn Bonfiglio 6 John Bowe 6
Kathryn Bowers 7 W. Sumner Brown 2
William Brownsberger AL m. Patricia Brusch 2
Susan Burgess Cox 2 Laura Burnes 6
Margaret Callahan 7 Brian Caputo 8
Lauren Caputo 8 Tom Caputo 2
Nancy Carlson 5 Amy Checkoway 6
Roger Colton 6 Julia Corbett 2
Clare Crawford 7 Suzanne Croy 6
Kevin Cunningham 4 Adam Dash 1
Corina DelVecchio 7 Katherine Dilawari 8
Elizabeth Dionne AL Thayer Donham 5
Tara Donner 6 Nicole Dorn 1
Christine Doyle 6 Joan Drevins 7
Theodore Dukas 6 Cabell Eames 6
Jolanta Eckert 3 Roy Epstein 6
Stephen Evans 6 Travis Franck 5
Roger Fussa 8 Michael Gao 8
Alisa Gardner-Todreas 1 Lucia Gates 4
Ron Geiger 2 Elizabeth Gibson 6
Ariane Goodman-Belkadi 3 Laurie Graham 6
Paul Griffin 7 Susan Griffin 7
Kimberly Haley 5 Jordan Hampton 4
Richard Hartley 3 Jessica Hausman 1
Jocelyn Hayes 1 Anne Helgen 2
Rachel Heller 3 Marcie Hirsch 6
Rachel Hirsch 1 Brian Iler 7
Radha Iyengar 8 Ann Jansen 3
Suzanne Johannet 6 Ralph Jones 3
Mary Kennedy 3 Kathy Keohane 2
Jason Ketola 3 Sarah Kirschner 7
Stephen Kilonsky 6 James Knight 1
Lydia Kogler 2 Doug Kolpow 6
Anne Marie Lambert 2 Matt Lennon 6
Jeff Levin-Scherz 2 Linda Levin-Scherz 2
Mary Lewis 1 Priya Licht 6
Caroline Light 6 David Lind 1
Larry Link 1 Barry Lubarsky 2
Geoff Lubien 7 Caitlin Madevu-Matson 8
Anne Marie Mahoney 1 Gail Mann 6
Christa Marsh 3 Paul McDonald 2
Robert McGaw 1 Robert McLaughlin 2
Michael McNamara 7 Ben Meshoulam 7
Kelly Michaud 1 Diane Miller 3
Ella Miller 3 Jeanne Mooney 6
Martha Moore 3 Meg Moriarty 2
Kara Morin 8 Holly Muson 1
Kristin Nelson Patel 1 Jeffrey North 1
Jill Norton 3 Katherine Oates 6
Henry Ogilby 1 Lisa Oter 3
Mark Paolillo AL Eric Perkins 4
Emily Peterson 1 Stephen Pinkerton 7
John Pollock 5 Lois Pollock 5
Adriana Poole 1 Kathy Posey 4
Andrew Poulsen 2 Lynn Read 8
Roger Read 8 Paul Rickter 8
John Robotham 2 Suzanne Robotham 2
Heather Rubeski 7 Jamal Saeh 1
Brian Saper 6 Ellen Schreiber 8
Joel Semuels 6 Ken Siskind 7
Kevin Smith 4 Vincent Stanton 3
Mary Stearns 3 Ellen Sugarman 8
Matthew Taylor 1 Yvette Tenney 1
Alex Thurston 1 Ted Tieken 8
Heli Tomford 3 Laura VanderHart 4
Mark Wagner 5 Rachel Watson 4
David Webster 4 Julia Weeks 2
Elizabeth Weintraub 2 Jack Weis 1
Jeanne Widmer 5 Roger Wrubel 5
Julie Wu 6 Taylor Yates 2
Gi Yoon Huang 8 Jung Yueh 3
Kristin Zecchi 6 Erica Zidel 8
Breda Zimkus 1 David Zipkin 2
Ralph Jones
If you run into Ralph Jones, let him know he can sleep easier now that the library has been closed and the “imminent” fire danger will not harm patrons. Yes, it has been 13 months since the fear campaign destroyed a beautiful 57-year young building. Ends justifies the means as Harry Reid poetically mused about fibbing that Mitt Romney paid no taxes.
Halt the Library construction…
A week ago. I had a dream that the library sits on top of an old Pequossete tribe burial ground. As someone whose lineage traces back to druids, the Town should take this dream seriously and stop all work on the library as there is imminent danger of possibly violating a burial ground. I have a friend who specializes in identifying and confirming such sites and he is available for hire in 2029. Trust me.
Radical Islam
The bad news is radical Islamists are expanding their attacks around the World with a focus on Catholics now. A bomb was detonated in a Catholic Church in the Philippines killing 5 and wounding 50 and 3 children and a woman were stabbed in Dublin Ireland.
The good news is there is new evidence that some Palestinians have had enough of Hamas and are turning them in to IDF soldiers. This could be a major turning point in the War on terror.
State News Gov Healey
The legislature is giving Maura another $250m for the migrant invasion created by President Biden’s “Catch and release” policy. This is on top of the $500 million already allocated and she is expected to ask for more this January. All that money could be going to services for legal citizens like homeless vets and toward mental health clinics. So far Healey has done nothing to stop the flow unlike some of her Democrat counterparts screaming at Biden.