Paul F. Roberts

Belmont votes Tuesday (April 7) to elect Select Board, School Committee, Moderator, Town Meeting, etc. Here are my picks.

Belmont’s Moderator Mike Widmer declared emphatically in a debate Monday evening that, if he is re-elected, Town Meeting Members will not be permitted to speak critically of the Town’s appointed committees, calling criticism of committees “ad hominem…

We all know that old adage: “when you’re in a hole, stop digging.” For Belmont residents, I’d like to offer a variation on that, which is “when you’re in a hole, start voting!” As I write, in late March, 2024: our lovely town is indisputably in a…

For the first time in years, voters have the opportunity to enact big changes to Belmont’s leadership. It’s not an opportunity we should pass up. Change is on the ballot, Belmont. Let’s make it happen! Here are my picks for the April 2nd 2024 Town…

OK – so here we are. It’s late March, 2024 and Belmont’s town election is two weeks away. This is when folks are starting to tune in and make up their mind. Quite a few of us are even casting votes by mail. So its time to weigh in on the big issue on…

Our longtime Town Moderator Mike Widmer is facing his first challenge for office in 16 years. His argument for re-election: ‘I’m fair and run a fair Town Meeting.’ But does he? That’s a question I’ve been asking myself for the past few months, ever…

NIMBY’s out for blood. As the Boston Globe reports, towns across eastern Massachusetts are up in arms about the MBTA Communities Act, a 2021 law that requires towns served by the MBTA to commit to creating neighborhoods with higher density housing,…

Editor’s note: the following blog post was submitted to Blogging Belmont by Belmont Public School educators. In it, the educators update readers about the financial challenges facing the school, identify some important, upcoming meetings where those…

Hey Blogging Belmont readers. There’s a meeting tonight of Belmont’s MBTA Communities Advisory Committee that you want to attend. The meeting starts at 5:30 PM at the Homer Building at the Town Hall complex, or you can tune in via Zoom. On the…

Looks like we’ve got a summertime fire drill here in our Town of Homes, courtesy of NIMBY (Not In My Backyard.) While we were all at the beach, a group of abutters to the Benton Branch library is up in arms that the nearly century old library will…

Abutters to Belmont’s Benton Branch are up in arms that the nearly century old library might again be used as a library. They’re pressuring the Select Board to cut the operating hours by more than half: from 50 hours a week to just 20. Sign a…

Hey there Blogging Belmont readers! Well, April is just around the corner and, with it, another local election here in our Town of Homes. This year, once again, I’m going public with my picks for both Town-wide offices and for Town Meeting (though I…

In the days leading up to the vote on Tuesday, a good friend related to me a conversation she had with an elected official in town – someone who has been around for a while and seen some stuff. Their read on the upcoming midterm elections? Question 6…

Ballots have been sent out, which means that Belmont voters are already weighing in on some critical questions affecting our Town. At the top of that list: whether to fund reconstruction of our library, which is housed in a building that is plagued…

Over the years the two of us have often found ourselves on different sides of political debates within Town. At meetings of the Select Board, or in the pages of the Citizen Herald we’ve debated and butted heads over any number of issues. Throughout,…

We Belmont parents have a choice next Tuesday. We can vote YES on Question 1 and deliver desperately needed funds to our public schools so they can continue reducing class sizes, supporting special education, and funding electives and extracurricular…

Below is a letter I sent to the members of the Warrant Committee, the School Committee and the Select Board in regard to recent conversations about the Town’s budget. I am reprinting it in its entirety. Hey everybody. Paul Roberts here. I hope this…

Below is a letter I sent to the members of Belmont’s Middle and High School Building Committee which is contemplating eliminating a planned solar array from the roof of the new Middle and High School, reneging on a promise to the community to…

April elections can be sleepy affairs. Many voters who turn out for presidential- and state-wide contests stay home for local elections in April. That’s really too bad, as the people you elect to local boards and offices have a much bigger say in…