Full disclosure… I voted for Geoff Lubien for Selectman because he came across as the most vanilla candidate. I certainly didn’t agree with him on Overrides and many issues, but he was the most reasonable choice for the Board of Selectman. I had heard Matt Taylor was known to have some extreme views on the need for public safety and I had virtually no information regarding the third candidate.
Why Matt Taylor needs to resign from the Select Board effective immediately….
At the July 22nd Select Board meeting, The Board was discussing and voting on appointments to various committees and boards in Town. As the Board discussed appointments and re-appointments to the Economic Development Committee (EDC), Taylor went ballistic. He was uncomfortable in re-appointing Marie Warner to the EDC because of her affiliation with an organization he implied was promoting conspiracies and launching personal attacks directed at Town employees. Taylor had to be coaxed to even name the organization for his inherent fear of drawing attention to it. Taylor finally named the organization as Citizen’s for a Fiscally Responsible Belmont (CFRB). When pressed to be specific in his conspiracy’s allegation Taylor appeared frustrated with his fellow Board members who quickly sought to distance themselves from Taylor and his remarks.
Citizens for a Fiscally Responsible Belmont, Inc. (CFRB) is a non-partisan, grass-roots group of concerned citizens who serve Belmont residents by working to increase accountability, responsibility and transparency in all aspects of town government.
While I am not a member of the organization, I know several members including fiscal progressives, current and former teachers, and generally solid people who believe in “Trust but Verify” government.
Warner is a well-known, well-spoken and generally respected volunteer in Belmont and in Belmont Government where she has served as a member of the Warrant Committee and recently EDC. This became obvious as soon as Taylor’s rant was done the meeting saw an avalanche of online viewers and in person attendees come to Marie Warner’s defense.
Is resigning asking too much?
Let’s put this in context. This wasn’t a spur of the moment heated exchange. Taylor came prepared to the meeting with an attack that was targeted and deliberate and an attack he introduced on his own accord. Taylor made a quasi-online apology to Marie Warner several days later yet left out any apology for disparaging the hundreds if not thousands of CFRB members.
Who cares it’s the CFRB….
What’s next? Will the Select Board prevent residents who are part of Pro-Choice, Black Lives Matter, or Free Palestine movements from serving on committees because they think doing so lends credence to the message. We have seen inside the mind of Matt Taylor. It’s a free country so he is entitled to his opinion, but isn’t Belmont entitled to a government with many opinions including those at odds with Matt Taylor?
What’s next?
Hopefully, Matt Taylor steps aside for the good of the Town. If not, it is important for Board members (Dionne and Epstein) to take a no confidence vote in Taylor and for Town meeting to follow suit. In the end, maybe a yard sign campaign will draw the necessary attention to this unrecoverable self-inflicted wound but hopefully some of his supporters will get to him before it gets that far.