Kudos to Joanna Tzouvelis, Sinclair Weeks, and Rob Brown for their efforts in getting a plaque placed at the 9/11 commemorative tree on the corner of Moore and Pleasant Street. The beautiful Red Maple was donated to Belmont by Hartney Greymont (arborist Sinclair’s company) back in October 2001, Brown and Hickey (Belmont’s oldest funeral home – Rob Brown) took care of mounting the plaque, and Joanna worked to make it all come together. Joanna lost a beloved cousin in the 9/11 attacks and clearly these three delivered big on “Never Forget”.
Soccer Night in Belmont is back. 7th year so kudos to John Carson, Rob Gray and all the Soccer Family instrumental in starting this now tradition of enjoying back-to-back Varsity games. The Lady Marauders go first against Watertown, Saturday September 17 th (5pm) followed by the Boys.
The Irish ginger who made the mistake of knocking on my door a couple weeks ago playing the chimney fixing game may have had to tolerate a full throttle berating by yours truly, but it looks like he got the last laugh. Sources tell me a home in the neighborhood was taken for $8,000 by a contractor fitting a similar description around the same time. We as a community need to do better. If you are comfortable take a photo of any contractor that just happens upon your home and get their license plate number if possible and safe. If you are not comfortable confronting them then call the Belmont Police non- emergency number and report the encounter. These pond scum go after our most vulnerable and are pros at the con.
Now to the dirt. Do you know what is one of Belmont’s biggest lies? The faulty school enrollment projections that led to a larger than needed High School/Middle School was sloppier than a lie. After several drownings at the Underwood pool in the 1930’s the statement that the lifeguards were the best trained and responsible was a whopper of a lie but done to protect the Town from being bankrupted from lawsuits. Now the Community Preservation Act that fits the bill. What makes it so damning? The CPA article was the only question on the back of the ballot and as a result was missed by many voters. It ended up passing by a couple hundred votes. The advocates continually asserted the Town of Belmont could and should expect 100% matching funds from the State. Twelve years later and the State CPA match has averaged about 28%. Belmont has raised $11m in CPA taxes and the State has provided $3.2m in CPA matching funds. So where is the almost $8m in funds we were promised? It’s all part of the “ends justify the means” nonsense being perpetrated on the overly trusting taxpayer. I suspect our Solar savings may be a close second, but time will tell because anytime someone tells you about savings over decades you know you are being played for a fool.
So, since we are talking about dirt and the CPA… Apparently, the dirt removed recently from the construction of an unwanted 5th Tennis Court at the Winn Brook school ended up next to the skating rink. An unattributed source close to the matter told me “See the tennis courts did make it back into the high school plan”. So, the question becomes why the dirt was taken from Winn Brook to BHS and then moved again. We can all speculate that they accidentally dug up an old Indian burying ground and needed to hide the bones before transporting the dirt to a proper site but more troubling to me than the cost to the taxpayer of moving dirt here and there is the whole process that led to this. First, the BHSMS committee shafts the Tennis program by eliminating courts. Second, a decision is made to use Community Preservation Funds to add a fifth court to Winn Brook. The neighborhood overwhelmingly opposed the fifth court. They complained about safety and parking and traffic (that only works if you have a Selectman in your neighborhood). Heck, the neighborhood even had former selectman Stevie Rosales singing about paving paradise to put up a tennis court, but it wasn’t enough. What a slap in the face that so called “community” funds were used to apply unequal treatment to one neighborhood over another.
Transparency… some in Town want to know who Belmont Briefing is as if that determines whether they are credible. While I personally attach my name to my articles, I can see why many are less forthcoming. After a 2009 Override debate, with Selectman Mark Paolillo, my house was egged. The override was defeated offering some respite for taxpayers during the 2009 banking crisis, so the win was worth hosing down the house. Jamal Saeh, a School Board member, more recently experienced the same. An unfortunate neighbor of a Selectman recently had their house egged and broken glass spread around (little did the culprit know he had the wrong house). The poor homeowners had no idea what they did wrong not realizing it was a case of mistaken address. A former Selectman’s husband was busted making harassing phone calls to town officials back in the early 90’s. It goes on and on.
Now kick it up a notch. Town employees are at great risk of retribution for publicly speaking up. Yes, it does happen, and in Belmont. The only avenue employees have is to get their message out through conduits or after they resign, they could blast Town management in the Belmont Herald as has happened within the last few years. Last election cycle, The Belmontian, reported negotiation details on teacher contracts. Hard to say if it was a Town or Union source. That information is supposed to be private but was leaked. The toxic behavior at a meeting between the TA and multiple Union heads was so toxic it led to a damning letter from all attending Union heads asking for the Select Board to intervene. They didn’t and doubled down. (More on that later). A parent was surprised to see CRT was being taught at BHS and photocopied the assignment which used the CRT term. What happened next elevated this Parent to HOF status in my eyes. Superintendent Phelan addressed the issue and, in my words, said it was a rogue event and not curriculum approved and was corrected. See something say something. Residents of Belmont Village, or if you are old school “the projects”, live in daily fear of retaliation. The Cambridge Housing Authority now operates Belmont Village and the feeling among many is if you speak up about conditions you might be evicted. Are their fears warranted isn’t the issue… the issue is the relationship is so toxic that they live in fear.
What I am trying to get across is there are plenty of reasons sources remain anonymous. It doesn’t mean what is being said isn’t true. As I am writing this, I was just forwarded an email sent to the SB, TMM members and Concerned citizens. It is incredibly detail oriented with data supporting links. It is sent from an email called “forbetterbelmont”. I will read it in detail later but just an FYI whoever forbetterbelmont is…. I am a Town Meeting Member and concerned citizen but not getting your emails for some reason. To those enjoying or despising this weekly/bi-weekly article I have delayed the new Library plus expansion story and toxic conditions town workers are facing for a later issue as more details come in. Next article is a doozy… A petition for Topless sunbathing at Underwood? Talking Race in Belmont, and whatever pops up.