For nearly 10 years, longtime Belmont resident Elizabeth Dionne has been a regular face in town politics, starting as a Town Meeting member and culminating in a term on the Select Board.
Now, she’s setting her sights on the state level with a run for Massachusetts treasurer, challenging 10-year incumbent Democrat Deborah Goldberg.
“This really started with the affordability crisis in Massachusetts, the local aid crisis … but I’m also really concerned about good governance and transparency,” Dionne said.
According to mass.gov, \the treasurer is responsible for the turnover, investment, and disbursement of municipal funds. The treasurer works with the community’s financial advisers and manages banking services and debt issuance. This person also prepares financial reports and complies with state reporting requirements.
Dionne, an attorney who has done pro bono work with Massachusetts Advocates for Children, said before deciding to run for state treasurer, she had planned to run for a second term on the Select Board.
“We had a pretty aggressive reform agenda, and we actually completed all of it during the first term… But it was really the 2024 override. We needed that override or else we were going to gut town institutions, and that included probably closing one of the two fire stations and potentially the library,” she said.
Recognizing Belmont wasn’t alone in dealing with the rising cost to run a town — roughly 70 communities had override requests last year, she said — Dionne saw a need for change at the state level.
According to “A Perfect Storm: Cities and Towns Face Historical Fiscal Pressures, a report by the Massachusetts Municipal Association, while average state government spending has increased by 2.8% since 2010 to meet “critical needs,” constraints on local revenue resources — such as Proposition 2 ½, a state law limiting a city’s or town’s ability to raise property taxes to about 2.5% — have kept Massachusetts’ communities’ spending growth to 0.6%, despite inflation. This lags far behind the national average of 1%, according to the report.
When adjusted for inflation, funding for Unrestricted General Government Aid, a form of local aid, is 25% lower than in 2002.
“The problem is there’s not enough local aid coming back [to the communities,” Dionne said. “… I would like to use the treasurer’s office to make people aware of local aid. … So I could either run for Select Board again, or I could take this fight to the state level. I do believe it’s a fight for cities and towns. Every town is being buried by rising expenses.”
In an interview on Boston Public Radio, Dionne described herself as a “Charlie Baker Republican.” In Belmont, she has served on the Warrant Committee, which guides the town through the budget process, and the Community Preservation Committee.
Her three campaign pledges, she said, respond to concerns she has about Goldberg. One pledge includes a promise to serve two four-year terms.
“This office is too powerful, there’s too much money,” she said, adding she would propose, if elected, to reinstate a term limit for the office.
She has also pledged not to accept campaign or inauguration donations from any industry directly regulated by the Treasurer’s Office — a reference to campaign donations Goldberg has received from the alcohol, school construction and lottery industries, as documented by the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
“Things can be legal and corrupt at the same time,” she said.
Dionne also emphasized a commitment to advocating for a change in the Massachusetts lottery distribution formula, noting the fund is the single largest source of local aid.
“That’s where it becomes an argument with the Senate and the House about budgeting priorities. My goal is to be a willing partner with every senator and every member of the House of Representatives — many who know I have a history of common sense bipartisan,” she said, explaining her role is as an advocate for local aid. “Taking the fight public and letting people know, this local aid number really matters.”
She also touted her previous role as a municipal official as one that offered her the opportunity to connect with several of the departments the Massachusetts treasurer oversees, including the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC), the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) and the state Retirement Board.
“I certainly hope I win on Nov. 3, but even if I don’t, democracy doesn’t mean a lot if there aren’t contested elections, if it’s just a coronation and not a contest,” Dionne said. “I firmly believe I’m the best candidate for this job and I can provide tremendous value to the voters of the Commonwealth.”
Efforts to reach Goldberg have been unsuccessful.
