MBTA Communities Act
This November, Belmont Town Meeting will be tasked with evaluating two proposals to bring Belmont into compliance with a State forced mandate that is currently being challenged in the State Supreme court and one in which members of the court are questioning not only the guidelines set forth in the act but whether the act is even enforceable. In other words, the Court is likely to render this act unenforceable. The act takes power away from Towns and enriches developers. It also threatens massive tax hikes on Towns with low commercial tax base like Belmont.
Town Leaders must answer three critical questions prior to any TM debate
- Shouldn’t an issue that will likely have a massive negative impact on the quality of life for all who currently live in the Town… essentially changing Belmont from a Suburban community into an urban community… and stressing already stressed Town services, Schools, and roads be decided by a Town-wide vote instead of Town meeting which studies have shown is not representative of the whole Town demographic?
- Why didn’t the Belmont Select Board challenge the State mandate? The Select Board put their personal reputations on the line saying “trust us” with this override and they would grow the commercial tax base to 10%? This MBTA act does the opposite of what was promised and will shorten the period this last override was promised to last.
- Conflict of interest. Over the summer, Alisa Gardner-Todreas, COO of MetroWest Community Development, was appointed to the Belmont Planning Board. At face value that is a solid appointment, but as with everything in Government, there will come times when a person may need to recuse themselves from topics and discussions due to conflict of interest such as with the current MBTA 3A act. Did Ms. Gardner-Todreas recuse herself from all MBTA community housing act discussions? If not, isn’t the whole process tainted?
Belmont does have guidelines for those serving on committee’s regarding conflicts of interest. The most recent I can find is dated July 22, 2021, and available online under the Town Clerk Tab… Committee Handbook on page 23. “Massachusetts General Laws Pertinent to Committees, Boards, and Commissions”. Under that is a section on Ethics (Conflict of Interest) and under that specifically it states…
“You may not take any official action affecting your own financial interest, or the financial interest of a business partner, private employer, or any organization for which you serve as an officer, director, or trustee”
The role of Belmont Town Meeting members is to be a “checks and balance” and the process to date on this subject has been flawed and biased. There is a lot of money at stake for developers should this pass and there is a massive loss of local control should it pass. I will be voting NO across the board and believe residents should have an expectation for answers to all three questions from all three Select Board members. They are welcome to email townietalk02478@gmail.com with their response.
Judith Feinleib
She has a well written article out on Belmont Senior Tax relief. (spoiler – not happening and somewhere Reardon, Laverty, and Murphy are saying Told you so Roy). https://www.facebook.com/jfeinleib
Belmont Health Alert
Role up your windows when driving by the new Library construction site on Concord Ave and the road construction site on Mill Street. Otherwise, you could ingest harmful construction dust in both locations.
I have had a resident complaint that these sites are supposed to be watered down to avoid the harmful dust storms, so I just drove by the Library and an MBTA bus caused nearly brown out conditions.
Town Hall voting
Early in person voting has started at the Belmont Town Hall. On Saturday, I voted as myself and then on Monday, I voted as Paul Roberts and on Tuesday as Matt Taylor. Unfortunately, on Wednesday I tried voting as Anne Mahon, and they asked for ID. I called them sexist, racist, and genderist but they still wouldn’t let me vote. This was probably the first and only time Roberts and Taylor voted for President Trump. Where I think Anne is a hidden Trumper. Kidding aside… it was fast and easy, and you still have several more opportunities.
Transgender news
This is a huge and troubling story. The New York Times reported that a study on using “puberty blockers” has been held back as the authors are concerned it will be used for political reasons. The study started 11 years ago was designed to look at whether giving “puberty blockers” to pre-teens and teens would help their mental state. (Gender questioning teens are believed to have a higher rate of suicidal thoughts). The study did not find any significant mental health benefit after using puberty blockers. Now, this is only one study, although it was highly anticipated due to its size and longevity and a couple other recent studies reached similar conclusions. No single study should be overweighted but hiding the data is detrimental to physicians and parents trying to weigh the benefits and potential harm of treatments for children. Science should be data driven and not driven by political bias especially when involving children’s health.
October Surprise
Simple… Black men, Hispanic men, and Union workers abandoning the Democratic party after decades of false promises and being taken for granted now supporting President Trump under which they were thriving and felt he was a strong leader who put them first.
A close second was Kamala embracing Liz and Dick Cheney. Can you imagine after decades of calling the Cheney’s Evil personified the liberals in Town are welcoming her to the Administration? Insane
TownieTalk02478 Electoral Map
Trump 302 Harris 236 (270 needed to win)
I have Harris winning Wisconsin and Virginia although both are in play.
Election shocker: Popular vote is about even
MA State shocker: The Abandon Harris coalition will vote Jill Stein, and she could end up with 14% of the MA vote. Harris still wins handily but the message is sent as Stein is only expected to get about 6%.
The Last week…
Trump had his best week of the year. His appearance working the fry machine and takeout window at McDonalds was second only to Ben Affleck on the Dunkin commercial. It showed his soft and fun side. It reminded Americans that Trump loves McDonalds and was no stranger to it. It was a middle-class American moment filled with fun, happiness, and humor. He then went to the Pittsburgh Steelers game and received a thunderous standing ovation with the crowd shouting “USA, USA”. This is the week that sealed the election win for him.
The week for Harris was bad. She held interviews with three major outlets and dumbfoundingly refused to answer any questions about her specific policies and how she might be different than the current Biden/Harris administration. The media is desperately waiting for her to break from Biden and begging her to stop focusing on Trump and start giving voters a reason to vote for her. On top of that she thought traveling with warmonger Liz Cheney was a good idea. She and her surrogates insulted Black and Hispanic men calling them everything from misogynistic to even racist for not supporting her. To make matters worse, the women at the center of the domestic violence allegation against her husband, Doug Emhoff, went public confirming he hit her so hard her head spun around and confirming he has a dark side which goes back to his treatment of the family’s former nanny he impregnated. This mainstream media is treating this like the Hunter Biden laptop, so you know the allegation passes the sniff test. Same with Kamala working at McDonalds. I can’t think of many 60-year-olds that couldn’t find several people to confirm a job they supposedly worked at in college. Worst sign for Kamala was swing state US Senators running ads praising working with President Trump.
The day after…
Belmont Kamala supporters are going to feel anxious and distressed, and many will again tease they will move to other Countries but in the end, they know with Trump back in office we can expect…
World Peace.
Shorter waits for medical care/More affordable housing
Lowe prices
Less crime and less locked shelves at stores
A return to made in the USA
Energy Independence
Freedom of religion, speech and an end to the weaponization of Government
Lower inflation
A general feeling of Winning
Haha
Q: How are politicians like diapers?
A: They both need to be changed regularly, and for the same reason.