The unofficial results are in, and Adam Dash will serve as moderator for at least the next year after outpolling incumbent Michael Crowley, 2,083-1,770.
Results are unofficial until certified.
“I really can’t believe it,” Dash said after the unofficial results were announced at Town Hall Tuesday night. “It always humbles me that people are willing to spend so much time and money and effort to help me and the cause forward, and I think that hopefully Town Meeting will see that what I’m thinking of bringing to the table here will be an asset.”
According to Town Clerk Ellen O’Brien Cushman, 3,971 of Belmont’s 19,275 registered voters, 20.6%, cast ballots on what began as a snowy, chilly Tuesday.
Crowley conceded a little after 9 p.m.
“I’m disappointed, but I think that the key thing is that I’m gratified to have been able to serve the town in this role, and I hope that we’re leaving things in good hands,” Crowley said.
“I wish my successor good luck, and he’ll need it; it’s a big job,” he added.
Dash said he decided to run after observing what he considered a series of chaotic Town Meetings under Crowley’s gavel.
“I figured, rather than sit back and complain, I would actually run,” Dash said before the election.
In his campaign, Dash emphasized his experience leading public meetings and his history of public service in Belmont. With the annual Town Meeting set for May 4, Dash’s work as moderator will start almost immediately, he said.
“I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a very different role, but it’s one that I am excited to start,” Dash said.
Crowley focused his campaign on a series of evolutionary steps he implemented since being elected last spring.
“There are ways that I think Town Meeting has fundamentally improved, including that I think debate and discussion is much more respectful than it was in the past,” he said earlier.
During his tenure, Crowley ran meetings focused on the Belmont Center overlay project and the naming of the Skip Viglirolo rink, a meeting that was held at the height of summer.
Crowley said he decided to run for re-election because Town Meeting is best when it is accessible, well-run, and focused on three things: Giving people the chance to speak, be heard, and to vote.
Uncontested Townwide Seats
Carol Berberian was elected to the Select Board with 3,057 votes. A lifelong Belmont resident, Berberian has previously served on the Planning Board, the board of the Belmont Parent-Teacher-Student Organization, the board of the Belmont Historical Society, and the League of Women Voters.
She will serve a three-year term.
Incumbents Amy Zuccarello and Jung Yueh were re-elected to the School Committee. Zuccarello received 2,717 votes, and Yueh received 2,500 votes. There were no challengers. Both will be serving their second term.
Alexander Corbett III tallied 2,926 votes to win a seat on the Cemetery Commission.
Stephen M. Fiore collected 2,784 votes in his run for the Board of Health.
Anne Mahon collected 2,771 votes for her seat on the Housing Authority.
Martha S. Brown collected 2,768 votes, and Sally M. Martin collected 2,736 votes for seats on the Library Trustees.
Andrew Machado collected 2,645 votes for a seat on the Belmont Municipal Light Board.
