Volunteers Chosen for Moderator’s Advisory Committee
By Mary Byrne, Belmont Voice staff
Following through on a campaign promise made during the April 2024 election, Moderator Mike Crowley has established what will be known as the Moderator’s Advisory Committee.
The eight-person committee is composed of one person per precinct. All but one seat has been filled after the Precinct 1 representative declined.
“My intention is to use this committee as a way to solicit input and at times certainly be guided by that input,” Crowley said.
Members of the committee include
- Precinct 2 Town Meeting member Leslie Aitken
- Precinct 3 Town Meeting member Ade Baptista
- Precinct 4 Town Meeting member Brian Keefe
- Precinct 5 Town Meeting member Azra Nelson
- Precinct 6 Town Meeting member John Bowe
- Precinct 7 Town Meeting member Joan Drevins
- Precinct 8 Town Meeting member Melissa MacIntyre.
Essentially, the committee—which will comprise one Town Meeting member from each of the eight precincts—will help interview potential appointees to each of the four committees overseen by the moderator. Those include the Warrant Committee, the Bylaw Review Committee, the Comprehensive Capital Budget Committee, and the Permanent Building Plan Committee.
Other committees with moderator appointments include the Library Building Committee, the Middle and High School Building Committee and the Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee.
The eight-person committee will also advise the moderator on procedural aspects of Town Meeting, such as speaking limits or rules around non-Town Meeting member participation.
“My primary interest is making Town Meeting work better,” said John Bowe. “I’ve been on Town Meeting since 2003, so I have had three moderators. You’ve got to let people speak and give comments and ask questions, but it’d be good to fine-tune it. There are 300 people in the room. You don’t want to waste all their time.”
It’s hard to force people to do their homework, he said, acknowledging that some of the reports are long and sometimes hard to digest. To combat that, he suggested summaries at the top of reports so readers at least get the main points for consideration. Another suggestion, he said, would be for the advisory committee to run through presentations with individuals expected to present at a Town Meeting and help them anticipate what questions might be asked.
“I’m curious about people who only stay on Town Meeting a couple of years–why do they leave?” he added, noting a survey to that effect might allow Crowley and the advisory committee to better understand where improvement is needed.
Joan Drevins had a similar interest in joining the committee—improving the efficiency of Town Meeting.
“One suggestion I have is … if we say we’re going to start at 6 or 7, let’s do that,” she said. “Invariably, people walk in late to Town Meeting. They know we’re not going to start on time, so they don’t arrive until 7.”
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She echoed Bowe’s suggestion to provide summaries to lengthy reports, adding that the practice of emailing Town Meeting members relevant documents hours before the meeting needs to be corrected.
A 36-year member of Town Meeting, she also said it is common for dozens of people to speak to the same issue, often repeating what was already said.
“After the first few people, you’ve kind of made up your mind, and people want to reiterate and get philosophical,” she said, acknowledging she didn’t want to impede on anyone’s right to free speech. “I don’t know how to manage that.”
Crowley explained that the selection process for the advisory committee included a Google form that residents could fill out to express interest. Members then voted on candidates within their respective precincts. In cases where only one Town Meeting member expressed interest, Crowley asked that, at a minimum, there be an email to confirm that members of the precinct affirmed that choice.
Since that selection, the committee has helped Crowley interview and reappoint two people seeking reappointment to the Warrant Committee: Bill Anderson and Deepak Garg. Anderson will serve another three-year term, and Garg, who served a partial term of two years, will serve a three-year term.
“They both have important finance backgrounds that I think can help that committee,” Crowley said.
New appointments to the Warrant Committee include Precinct 8 Town Meeting member Mark Kagan and Precinct 5 Town Meeting member Andrew Flamang.
Crowley described Kagan, an economist and data scientist, as having “superb data analytics skills.” Flamang, Crowley said, has a professional background in consulting as well as tech startups, where he’s worked with financial data and done data analysis.
“We’re losing [Finance Director/Assistant Town Manager] Jennifer Hewitt, and we have precious few town staff who can do sophisticated data and fiscal analysis,” Crowley said.
Crowley acknowledged resistance to both appointments. In the case of Kagan, a five-year Belmont resident, some felt he hadn’t lived in town long enough. In the case of Flamang, a first-year Town Meeting member, some felt he hadn’t been involved enough with town government. Beyond that, he served on the Vision 21 Committee.
“When I had first joined the Warrant Committee, I had only lived in town for one year,” Crowley recalled. “I think I was only elected to Town Meeting a few months before. Mike Widmer thought I represented a certain skill set … I think it’s important, regardless of how long someone has lived in town or how involved they’ve been in town affairs, that we bring skills to the Warrant Committee that are vitally needed.”
In addition to committee appointments, Crowley is hoping to find ways to get Town Meeting down to a more “manageable length.”
“I’ve put together a list of ideas and honestly, I don’t know how much this set of ideas I’ve put together will help, but I’ve asked committee members to be thinking about what ideas they might have,” he said. “I’m hoping they might have a discussion on that [this week] if we’re not bogged down in interviews.”