I am a long time Belmont resident and have served as a Town Meeting member from Precinct 8 for 19 years. I have a strong record of voting in support of our public schools, infrastructure and Town services. Today, I am writing to voice my strong support for re-electing Town Moderator Mike Crowley.
In his first year in office, Crowley has made real improvements to Belmont’s legislature that promote transparency, fairness and democracy in our local government. He restored remote attendance to Town Meeting, after his predecessor bowed to the Select Board as they stripped Town Meeting members of the ability to virtually participate in Town Meeting. As moderator Crowley has often said hybrid meetings make it easier for a more diverse population of Belmont residents to participate in Town Meeting including parents of young children, older residents with health or mobility issues, as well as working professionals.
Crowley also established Belmont’s first-ever Moderator’s Advisory Committee: a group of residents that meets under the state’s Open Meeting Law, providing advice and guidance to the moderator on committee appointments and the conduct of Town Meeting. In the decades before Mike’s election, Belmont’s moderators operated with little transparency, public input or accountability. We, the public, were kept in the dark: learning about appointments only after they were made and with no information shared about the reasons or process by which the nomination was granted.
Crowley’s opponent promises to support improvements like hybrid Town Meeting and the Moderator’s Advisory Committee. But I believe Belmont will be better off electing a candidate who has not just made promises, but actually delivered on them: helping to build a more diverse, transparent and democratic Town Government. That candidate is Michael Crowley. I hope you’ll join me in voting to re-elect him for Belmont Town Moderator.
Paul Roberts, Cross Street