Select Board member Elizabeth Dionne announced Monday she would not seek a second term on the board.
On Tuesday, former Select Board member Adam Dash announced he would run for moderator. Incumbent Michael Crowley also shared plans to run next spring.
The election isn’t until April 7, but already a lot is stirring in the Belmont election cycle. Dionne’s departure leaves Matt Taylor, who was elected in April 2024, as the longest-serving current board member.
Right now, Dash said, Town Meeting is not functioning as it should. One of the unofficial functions of a moderator is to serve as an adviser to the Select Board, he said.
“With three first-term members [of the Select Board] and a moderator who is new, there is no one person with the experience and knowledge to serve as a sounding board,” he said.
In addition to a stint on the Select Board, Dash served on the Warrant Committee and held several other town positions.
In an email, Crowley emphasized his intent to run for reelection and seemed to welcome the challenge.
“One of the things that’s important about our town elections is that virtually anyone can run for public office. It’s an opportunity to hear about alternative viewpoints and give voters choices. This is what democracy is all about. Count me as a strong believer in its importance,” he wrote.
Crowley won the seat last year, beating former Select Board member Mark Paolillo in a race that included a recount. He replaced Mike Widmer, who held the moderator’s gavel for two decades. To date, he has moderated three Town Meetings.
According to Widmer, the one-year moderator term is a holdover from a time when the moderator was chosen from among those attending the meeting. Over time, more and more towns in the Bay State have shifted to multiyear terms, but Belmont hangs on to the one-year term.
The importance of the job precludes time to grow into the role, Dash said.
Select Board
Dionne announced her plans not to seek reelection early to allow people interested in running a chance to campaign.
“I wanted to give enough time for candidates to step forward, and for residents to have a chance to vet the candidates,” she said.
Dionne plans to work through the end of her term in April. She touted the work she’s accomplished as part of a team, including the recent override, structural changes to town government dictated by the Collins report, such as moving the assessors from an elected to a hired position, and the work done to increase town revenue.
But, Dionne said, more will be needed to ease the burden on Belmont residents.
“I am looking at a structural issue and I want to see if there are ways I can help,” she said.
In December, the board will see a presentation on upzoning the Brighton Street corridor. In March, Town Meeting will decide on the rezoning of Belmont Center. That, she said, will be a line in the sand for any Select Board candidate.
While she declined to comment further about what her future holds, Dionne said she hopes to announce her plans sometime in early December.
“But right now, the focus is on Belmont,” she said.
