Belmont selectboard chair under fire for text messages sent to fire chief

BELMONT — Text messages between Selectboard Chair Ruth Mooney and Fire Chief Mike Newhall show derogatory remarks made by Mooney last month. The text chain was uncovered by selectboard candidate Brian Gardiner, who obtained copies of the messages through a Right to Know request to the town after he was tipped off about the exchange. The messages were sent between March 1 and April 5.

Mooney: Ok, I went to candidate’s night and I just need to know who is Gardiner guy is. Big on spending money for the fire department but not impressed.... Is your department supporting this guy????? [sic]

Newhall: I do not think so. He is a little over the top. 

...

Mooney: Well after listening to this Gardiner tonight I’m not sure who is more mentally challenged he or his son.

That exchange took place on March 7 after the town’s Candidates Night.

“I have a son with Down Syndrome,” said Gardiner. “He’s 25 years old, he’s well-respected in the town of Belmont, he knows everybody.”

By his own admission, Gardiner said he was not well prepared for the candidate’s night, and did not perform well.

“I’ll be brutally honest, I botched the first question,” Gardiner recalled, welcoming valid criticism.

“It troubled me that someone would speak of a child with an intellectual disability,” Gardiner continued. “For myself, I don’t have a problem, because I’ve dealt with it before. But to go beyond and talk about my child who has nothing to do with this, it certainly enraged" me.

In addition to the message regarding Gardiner’s son, Mooney also made mention of someone attempting to take their own life during later exchange. Newhall had sent Mooney a photograph of a partially submerged white SUV.

Newhall: Lady tries to hurt herself on south rd yesterday.

Mooney: On purpose?

Newhall: Yes

Mooney: I guess she should have picked a deeper place....... So sad what this world is coming to...

Selectboard member Travis O’Hara, who also represents the town in the Statehouse, criticized Mooney after he saw copies of the text messages for himself.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for her to be saying stuff like that, talking about our residents like that, it’s unbecoming of our chair,” O’Hara said. 

Gardiner said Selectboard Vice Chair John Pike and other members called for Mooney’s resignation, a statement Pike vehemently denied.

“That is not the truth whatsoever,” Pike said. "I can’t speak for the other members.”

Pike said he had not seen the text messages.

“As far as the texting, that is all hearsay, I would certainly not call for her resignation,” Pike said. “I have no intention of looking at the text, I’m not part of a witch hunt. What she did on her own time ... if I get stopped for a DWI should I resign my position as a selectman? I haven’t heard this, I don’t know this.”

Pike went on to say there has been no mention of these texts at any selectboard meeting, and he would not look into the matter unless he was “summoned by an authority of law” to do so.

Pike also said that “intent sometimes means a different thing than the true meaning,” regarding the text messages.

Selectboard member Sonny Patten declined to comment on the matter. Sharon Ciampi offered her take. 

“If what I heard was accurate, then I’m upset. It’s picking on the most vulnerable of our population,” Ciampi said, adding she had not seen the texts themselves and only heard rumors regarding their content. 

“You’re elected to be a representative of the population of our town, and it’s not a very good representation, I guess,” Ciampi said. “Whether it's the candidate or his son or someone in a mental health crisis who needs help, we need to represent them, and this doesn’t show a lot of compassion.”

Repeated attempts to reach Newhall and Mooney were unsuccessful.