watch and listen to the talking news every day at twelve noon and six hundred pm on channel ninety six comcast xfinity and channel thirty verizon fios it can also be heard mondays and tuesdays at four hundred and thirty pm and wednesdays at one thousand two hundred and thirty pm on channel nine xfinity and channel twenty nine fios listen anytime on the bmc podcast network on soundcloud and itunes just search for the belmont media podcast network and now onto the talking news paolillo honored for his service by joanna k tzouvelis mark paolillo attended his final meeting as selectman on april 1st and was honored with three proclamations from state senator william brownsberger state representative david roger and the town of belmont recognizing his history of service and dedication paolillo served three terms as a selectman you've done so much for this town and collaborated with so many people and that's how things get done is by people collaborating you're a leader that does collaborate says brownsberger rogers said he is sad to see paolillo go mark's a really really smart guy and he's a really really nice guy and both of them really matter in public service that you bring out your intellect but you also provide fundamental decency as a human being said rogers chairman adam dash and selectman thomas caputo presented paolillo with a wooden rocking chair engraved with the belmont town seal his name and years of service because you like being the chair said dash the proclamation from the town cited paolillo's nine years as selectman as well as his twenty two years of service in many other capacities on the travel advisory committee the council on aging warrant committee committee preservation act study committee town meeting recreation commission minuteman study committee municipal light board financial task force capital budget committee community path advisory committee board of library trustees economic development advisory committee and school committee along with major capital projects working group high school traffic working group among others he served as chairman of the selectmen in two thousand and twelve two thousand and thirteen and two thousand and sixteen the proclamation states paolillo was an integral in the creation of the first financial task force belmont's first look at a municipal and a multiyear strategy regarding town finances and capital improvements and bringing the town and schools into one budget creating the one belmont one budget approach the proclamation also states he was instrumental in changing how municipal employees communicated with residents pushing for a stronger web and social media presence mark had set a high standard of commitment and dedication which the youth of our town may follow and serve as an inspiration for the citizens of the town of belmont states the proclamation from the town of belmont in response to the many accolades and applause from the audience which included paolillo's wife christine and his mother mary mark said it has been a privilege and honor to serve the residents of the community i've enjoyed every single day and every single year i'm really going to miss the work people thought i was retiring because of the work and long hours that had nothing to do with it he said he said he will miss the town employees we had a terrific team of department heads and town employees that do their best every single day we're not perfect we try to serve the community and the way they want services provided he said he also thanked the other boards he served with some were great some were okay he especially thanked his mentor ralph jones the smartest guy i ever served with said paolillo he also thanked his late father anthony who instilled in him the need to give back to the community by serving it paolillo is a certified public accountant and works as principal of abandoned and unclaimed property practice leader for ryan of boston and now over to my colleague claire thanks bob the election results are in epstein wins selectman seat page wins housing authority prestwich and checkoway win school committee seats by joanna k tzouvelis for many this year's town election was a nail biter with a contentious threeway race for the selectman seat as well as races for school committee and housing authority many predicted it would be a close race between selectmen candidates roy epstein and jessie bennett and the results proved just that with epstein winning over bennett by one hundred and twenty eight votes timothy flood came in third with one hundred and thirty six votes the most recent close race for selectman was in two thousand and twelve between andy rojas and the late dan sharfman sharfman lost by just thirty five votes this is the first threeway race for selectman since two thousand and ten when mark paolillo first ran against daniel leclerc and anne mahon paolillo won housing authority newcomer cassandra page won the fiveyear housing authority seat with three hundred and eighty four more votes than incumbent tommasina olson page was overwhelmed with joy as she learned the results of town hall read by assistant town clerk meg piccione she said she did not expect to win i didn't think anybody cared my opponent's been around forever and she's done so many amazing things for this town and i just didn't think i had a chance said page this is the first time in twenty eight years a tenant has been elected as a member of the housing authority board according to housing authority board member charles laverty iii i know she's passionate about a lot of issues so we look forward to working with her on those issues and all the changes at the housing authority he said laverty will become the acting chairman to fill the vacancy left by olson who was the chairman the first meeting is april 22nd at which time they will elect a new chairman he said he looked forward to working with page and welcomes her with open arms school committee in the race for the two threeyear school committee seats the winners are newcomer amy checkoway coming in first with three thousand one hundred and five votes and incumbent andrea prestwich with two thousand nine hundred and seventy five newcomer peter pantazopoulos received one thousand four hundred and seventeen votes checkoway said she cares about the transition to the grade seven through twelve school and getting into the community listening to different perspectives and bringing them to the table she is focused on trying to make sure our students are getting a comprehensive high quality education and that teachers and leadership are supported to make positive change in the schools her first school committee meeting will be april 9th board of selectmen epstein said he never ran a campaign before and thinks he knocked on two thousand doors the most important experience of that was meeting all the people who are incredibly diverse generally very welcoming very informative i learned a lot from all different points of view rich poor young old with different concerns he said he said he believes the experience made him a better candidate and it will make him a better selectman epstein said the biggest issues facing belmont in the next few years are financial between completing capital projects successfully and managing a request for an override managing that in a way that people can live with it is the most important challenge facing belmont and i believe i'm the best prepared to help do that he said epstein said belmont's chronic problem is expenses that exceed revenue getting prepared for the next override is something we have to start thinking about now i've given some thought to taking this as a moment where we could maybe simultaneously address the tax program for seniors and revisit the business model for town departments to see if money can be saved by restructuring services and rethinking some of the ways the town raises revenue before the results came in bennett told the citizen herald whether i win or not i plan to stay involved in the town i will do all of the volunteering i possibly can it's what makes this town great people getting in and getting the work done i'm not going away anytime soon no matter what said bennett former selectman mark paolillo was at town hall when the results came in i hope now that the race is over the town comes together he said he thinks it took a lot of courage for bennett to step into the ring without a lot of time spent in town politics she came incredibly close to winning i hope she will continue to serve as a town meeting member she has done wonderful work on the high school traffic working group and perhaps in the future she'll throw her hat in the ring again said paolillo he thinks it's important for the selectmen to unite the town there's so much more to do and the three members of the board need to move forward together unite the town and let's focus on the issues we need to address and enhance the quality of the life of the residents in our community said paolillo now over to max thank you claire aaa rating to save town money by joanna k tzouvelis town treasurer floyd carman announced march 7th that the town of belmont has been assigned a aaa rating by both moody's and sp this was the first time the town has been rated by two rating agencies according to carman the size of the financing triggered the dual rating analysis in that report on march 12th carman went out to market for a one hundred million bond to fund the belmont high school grade seven through twelve building project seventy four million to renovate the police and public works buildings seven hundred thousand for the town's ongoing water main replacement project there were seven bidders the winning bidder was jp morgan securities llc the true interest cost of the 30year bond is three thousand three hundred and ten the town will receive one hundred and eight million one hundred thousand in cash and finance one hundred and two million thirty thousand according to carman a savings of around six million effective january 1st two thousand and twenty residents will see the effects of this initial borrowing for the debt exclusion for the bhs project on their property tax bills the average single family belmont home valued at one million ninety thousand will see their real estate taxes increased by seven hundred and sixty annually focusing just on the belmont high school debt exclusion project the belmont taxpayer will save five million five hundred and seventy two thousand on this bond which he estimates is about forty on the average homeowner's property tax bill every dollar counts he said belmont is one of nine communities out of three hundred and fifty one that have both moody's and sp aaa ratings the other communities are acton boston brookline cambridge hingham wellesley weston and winchester in february and march of two thousand and twenty carman said he will go to market for another a hundred million dollar bond for the bhs project the vote passing the debt exclusion for the new grade seven through twelve high school building in november two thousand and eighteen authorized carman to borrow two thousand one hundred and twenty seven million the total project will cost two hundred and ninety five million the town expects to get eighty million reimbursed through the grant from the massachusetts school building authority before this debt exclusion the town was in debt about seventy five million according to carman with the one hundred million bond the debt will be one hundred and seventy five million the following year it will be two hundred and seventy five million although the aaa rating could give the town a premium which could save taxpayers up to six hundred thousand the aaa rating reflects the town's healthy financial operations and reserves a moderately sized tax base in close proximity to new england's largest employment center strong resident wealth and income profile and rising but manageable debt burden moody's said in its report the rating also incorporates the town's aggressive funding of its moderate pension liability according to the moody's credit analysis received by carman on february 28th factors that could lead to a downgrade of belmont's rating are a failure to maintain financially balanced operations as debt service increases deviations from planned funding of pension liability and the unwillingness of voters to approve future debt exclusions and overrides credit challenges are the rapid growth of school enrollment driving rising education and capital costs and future debt plans over the near term will substantially increase debt burden the sp rating report received by carman on march 6th describes belmont's economy as very strong the town's economic profile benefits from its location which has given way to extremely strong and stable wealth and income levels it is served by the massachusetts bay transit authority's commuter rail buses and trackless trolley lines in addition to several roads and exits along route two which connect it directly to the area's deep and robust economy he said the report also states belmont's debt and contingent liability profile as weak but that the costs are manageable given the town's very strong demographic profile in our opinion a credit weakness is belmont's exposure to rising costs related to pension and opeb obligations however we believe overall costs are affordable and the town has been active in managing the overall liability sp said in its report sp said the outlook for belmont is stable as long as belmont remains proactive in its management of its debt and liability profile as evidenced by its careful planning and prudent budget decisions while unlikely if financial performance were to deteriorate significantly leading to a draw on reserves or if longterm liabilities increased at a faster pace leading to budgetary pressures we could lower the rating sp said in its report in addition if the town's tax rate flexibility were to diminish as evidenced by its electorate no longer willing to support operating overrides and debt exclusions the rating would also be pressured particularly given the expected rise in debt and other costs over to you bob thank you max students make a statement by sri kaushik abby yu and chantelle dunne on march 14th hundreds of belmont high school students streamed into the cafeteria after school to participate in the 17th annual studentled event make a statement day amidst upbeat music and tasty homemade treats students packed themselves around the circular tables littered with sharpies to decorate free white tshirts purchased using donations for the belmont pto the youth activities and dare inc program of the belmont police department and belmont against racism each year students and staff are invited to decorate these tshirts with slogans images quotes or symbols expressing whatever it is that they are passionate about this year officer horan made a surprise visit to the event much to the delight of many who had him as a teacher and guide in their fifth grade dare classes the goal of the event is to promote diversity creativity acceptance and education among belmont high school students each participant then wears their decorated shirt to school the next day where they are encouraged to share their statement with their peers and teachers this year sophomore andrew cubstead and thomas boyle collaborated on their tshirt and made abstract tshirts that on their own seemed nonsensical but when put together resembled a unified tshirt when asked about it boyle responded that it was to show that he and cubstead were just two halves of a whole senior jess giorgio made a cute shirt in which her name was the basis of an asterix poem a snapshot of her personality others made tshirts focusing on empowering both women and members of the lgbtq plus community current gun and immigration laws and climate change make a statement day is entirely free to those participating in order to purchase the tshirts markers and other supplies necessary for the event to take place committee members sri kaushik abby yu and chantelle dunne prepared grant proposals and spent the preceding months planning their annual event and now over to claire thanks bob celebrate spring at bga's new exhibit by rebecca richards the belmont gallery of art invites visitors to celebrate the joy and beauty of spring with its new exhibit birds blossoms and botanicals at the homer building 3rd floor nineteen moore street opening april twelve the exhibit will delight visitors with the many images in vivid colors of the earth's awakening after the quietness of the winter months one can almost hear the birds singing and smell the flowers in an exhibit that delights the senses the response to the bga spring awakenings call for art has been unprecedented with over one hundred artists sending in close to three hundred submissions for consideration the end result is an exhibit filled with work by over seventy five artists featuring not only painting printmaking and photography but other types of art making as well including textiles jewelry design and assemblage with the common theme of debating the beauty and joy of spring visitors to birds blossoms and botanicals will feel truly enveloped in the earth beauty and renewal at this special time of year the bga will host an opening reception for birds blossoms and botanicals from six hundred to eight hundred and thirty pm on april 12th with many of the artists present wine and light refreshments will be served a gallery talk coffee and conversation with exhibit guest juror lauren meier will be held from one thousand am to noon april thirteen meier a landscape designer and editor of the papers of frederick law olmsted will give a talk on the legacy of frederick law olmsted these bga events are free and open to the public bga's art fun shops will be held april 27th and 28th an opportunity to play let your imagination run loose and create something unique and personal for you or for someone you love working with both found materials and supplies and guidance provided by the bga participants in each three hour long workshop will leave with an original piece of art rsvp's and nominal fee are required to cover supplies and now here's max thanks claire metco students showcase art at grove hall library by joanna k tzouvelis metco students in kindergarten through eighth grade are participating in the fifth annual metco art show through april 11th at the grove hall library in dorchester according to chenery visual arts teacher kathleen burns the show originated in response to making sure all students that come to belmont feel that they are part of the community and to celebrate their art not just in belmont but in the communities where they come from chenery art teacher katie kelly said the art in the show highlights the work done in the curriculum such as twopoint perspective onepoint perspective clay masks slab buildings screen prints portraits incorporating the where i'm from poem they work on in seventh grade english class chenery 7th grade metco student crystal bella rutter of mattapan is exhibiting her art in the show it depicts depression and how it affects the lives of people ages fifteen to twenty four it was created using a carving tool and linoleum with rolled ink it lets students show what they do in school not only in school but outside of school it lets them express themselves and show what they've been going through at home said rutter chenery 8th grade metco student cartier davis of dorchester is exhibiting his twopoint perspective of legos with dragons in the background in coordinating colors made with pencil he is also exhibiting a ceramic sculpt fish sculpture depicting a betta fish he used to have as a pet he likes that the exhibit is close to home chenery 8th grade metco student meima diacate of mattapan is exhibiting a screen print she created with a group in bright orange and red and a twopoint perspective about social issues including gay rights i made a box that's like a rainbow and a person choosing a path they want to go down and being conflicted she said she's excited to be part of the art show for the fourth year in a row i like that i can do anything i want in the art class i get to choose what i draw and what i make she said she hopes to continue studying different art forms of art in high school chenery 7th grade metco student aj sweet of east boston will exhibit a picture he created of his dog lucky and a portrait of himself which incorporates the where i'm from poem he wrote i think it's cool people get to see my artwork i work hard on he said chenery art student teacher sarah libertini said the metco art show is special for everyone who attends and is an opportunity to connect with the metco students on a different level over to you bob thanks max local nonprofits receive community grants harvard pilgrim healthcare foundation recently announced that two belmont nonprofit organizations were awarded a total of one thousand from the foundation's community spirit nine hundred and eleven minigrant program the belmont chinese american association received a five hundred grant and belmont high school received a five hundred grant to commemorate those harvard pilgrim members who lost their lives on september 11th two thousand and one harvard pilgrim and the foundation created the community spirit nine hundred and eleven minigrant program this program allows each harvard pilgrim employee to award a five hundred grant completely funded by the foundation to the local charity of his or her choice for each calendar year since this community grants program began in two thousand and two harvard pilgrim employees have directed more than sixty three million to thousands of organizations throughout connecticut maine massachusetts and new hampshire we are so fortunate to have generous and dedicated employees to enrich our company and the communities in which we all live and work said karen voci the president of the harvard pilgrim foundation the minigrant program is a wonderful way to support our employees they help others to make an impact in their own cities and towns in two thousand and eighteen ninety six of harvard pilgrim employees participated in at least one form of service or giving through volunteering the minigrant program or the harvard pilgrim's annual employee fundraising campaign and now over to my colleague claire thank you belmont world film to present jirga belmont world film will present the new england premiere of jirga sponsored by the australian consulate of new york at seven hundred and thirty pm april 8th at the studio cinema three hundred and seventy six trapelo road belmont the film was australia's two thousand and nineteen submission for the best foreign language film oscar director benjamin gilmore will speak after the film via skype from australia in a discussion moderated by zahra lotfi a middle eastern studies scholar originally from afghanistan besides epitomizing this year's theme of making peace jirga portrays the people of afghanistan in a different light from american cinema said belmont world film executive director ellen gitleman many of the people in the film are nonactors who have participated in these thoughtful jirgas themselves belmont world film's 18th annual international film series making peace will run through april twenty nine at the studio cinema in belmont with films beginning at seven hundred and thirty tickets to film screenings are eleven general admission and nine for students and seniors in advance at httpbelmontworldfilmorg and twelve and ten respectively on day of the show beginning at seven hundred pm with cash ebt and wic cardholders can purchase tickets at half price on the day of the show a passport includes eight admissions for seventy five and can be shared with one other person now over to max thanks claire panmass challenge seeking kids rides coordinator the panmass challenge charitable bikeathon held every august is seeking a coordinator for the belmont kids ride event the organization hosts more than thirty pmc kids rides throughout massachusetts and new england in two thousand and eighteen one of those rides took place in belmont in which more than three hundred local children participated to raise funds for patient care and cancer research at dana farber in two thousand and eighteen thirty three pmc kids rides attracted over four thousand three hundred cyclists and one thousand five hundred volunteers kids ages two to fifteen pedaled routes between one and ten miles in mini bikeathons providing them the opportunity to raise money for cancer care and research just like the adults who participate in the pmc together they raised more than nine hundred and fifty thousand as part of the pmc's monumental fifty six million gift to dana farber and in two thousand and nineteen pmc kids rides hopes to raise one million as part of the organization's fundraising goal of fifty eight million the panmass challenge has raised more than six hundred and fifty four million for cancer research and patient care at dana farber cancer institute since its inception in one thousand nine hundred and eighty for information visit kidspmcorg if interested in becoming a coordinator contact just justine darmanian at seven billion eight hundred and thirteen million four hundred and thirty four thousand and twelve or justinepmcorg back to you bob along with my colleagues claire and max we thank you for listening to the talking news and hope you have enjoyed the show we will return next week for another edition of local news happenings around belmont