Belmont votes to expand selectboard by 2

BELMONT — Voters in this town had nearly 40 items before them on Tuesday, from the standard decisions of appropriating funds for local projects, to more controversial topics like eliminating the town’s ability to impose health restrictions and the use of public resources to advocate for election measures. 

Incumbent selectboard member Jon Pike held on to his position against Justin David Borden, 436 to 332. Albert Akerstrom, Ronald Mitchell, Tracey LeClair and Mark Ekberg were all elected to the budget committee. Kyle Dodge won the race for cemetery trustee against Andrea Lubiens, earning 433 votes to Lubiens's 227. 

Pike will have to make room for a couple more members on the selectboard, as voters approved of Article 37 by a vote of 409 to 375, expanding the town's governing body from three to five members. Town Administrator Jeanne Beaudin said the two new seats will be filled through the elections held in March 2023.

Article 32 which looked to prohibit the town from imposing any medical protections including vaccination, face masks, testing or social distancing, was struck down with 522 votes opposed vs. 259 votes in favor.

Article 33, brought to the warrant by a citizens petition to see if Belmont would terminate Mark Lewandoski as chief of the Belmont Police Department, failed to pass, with 582 voting against the measure and only 195 voting in favor.

Another petition article, 36 related to the electioneering complaint, proposed to ban the use of any public resources, personnel, and official channels to promote any proposal placed before the voters of Belmont. It failed with 320 votes in favor and 458 opposed.

Another interesting election measure was Article 35, which stated that all elections in Belmont “shall be made on paper ballots only and all such ballots will be counted by hand in full view of the public or with the assistance of ballot counting machines, whoever the selectmen deem most appropriate.” Article 35 failed to pass by a relatively small margin of 314 for, 466 against. 

As for the Shaker Regional School District Ballot, incumbent school board member Sean Embree defeated challenger Mark Ekberg in a tight race of 543 to 426. All four articles on the ballot, including the operating budget of $26,665,072, passed with strong majorities.