watch and listen to the talking news every day at twelve noon and six pm on channel ninety six comcast explain eighty and channel thirty verizon fi os it can also be heard mondays and tuesdays at four thirty p and wednesdays at twelve thirty pm on channel nine x finity and channel twenty nine fi os listen any time on the v m c podcast network on sound cloud and i tunes just search for the belmont th term in the upcoming town election on april the nd he had served as a selectman since two thousand and ten he said it was very difficult decision it's hard to walk away there are so many things to continue to work on but i feel nine years is enough said paoli old he said he would like to give someone else the opportunity to step in and run although he will miss the people and the work he was doing it's been a privilege to serve and i'll miss the day to day involvement of helping govern the town last weekend he decided to make the decision to spend more time with his family he said he is proud of what he's accomplished and feels it is a good time for him to leave i've done everything i've wanted to do as a member of the board and with other members and town administrators and department heads he said he knows the current board and town administrator are a strong nine years is enough to serve for anyone he said paoli zero was raised in belmont and raised his own family in belmont prior to serving as a select served as a member of the warrant committee from two thousand and fourteen to two thousand and ten prior to that he served on the traffic advisory committee community preservation act committee and was a town meeting member for precincts three and eight town administrator patrice goven said she could always look to paleo for history and guidance on town issues she said it would be a loss to the town very fair logical and good natured i always know where i stand with him and he always had an ear for an issue or concerned said  is disappointed to learn the news but understands because being a selectman is not an easy job it has always been he has always been on the top of the town's financials and asked probing questions about them mark felt strongly that the will of the people had to be followed and the public money had to be wisely sprint spent said dash there are many accomplishments proud of one is helping with the creation of the st financial taskforce which developed a multi year strategic financial and capital improvement plan he was also involved with the spearheading for the four  thousand dollars operating override the st one in thirteen years other accomplishments he is proud of include securing support for the underwood pool project which replaced the historic one hundred year old pool helping with the development of the belmont light substation improving communication and transparency with belmont residents by directing town employees to be responsive to resident inquiries in hansing the town website and social media outreach efforts and establishing precinct meetings paoli zero was also involved with forming the community path advisory committee community path implementation advisory committee and now the community passed project committee he has contributed to getting the police public works library and skating facilities in belmont renovated or reconstructed according to dash pale a leo was instrumental in solving the issue of how to fix the police station and without the need for a debt exclusion paoli zero was also proud of them proven communication and collaboration with the school department and school committee on the enjoyable budget process by establishing a one belmont one budget approach to budgeting another project he helped with is the redevelopment and improvement of belmont sena he also helped increase funding for road and sidewalk repay is he plans to remain involved in town government and will run  fatone meeting for precinct eight he is a member of the belmont woman's club and would like to get more get more with the youth and senior members of the belmont community he said and now over to my colleague cl return of rent control as mayor martin j wall files legislation he's touting as a way to protect elderly renters in the city if passed the legislation prepared by walsh would limit rent increases to five percent per year to prevent landlords from using large renting increases to get around just cause protections according to a description of the proposal quote t like rent control said douglas quattrocchi executive director of mass landlords an organization that represents more than one thousand four hundred landlords in the state limiting increases is a form of rent control and it'll create a shortage for people to find a place to live if in acted when someone gets in through rent control the tenants will never leave the walsh administration defended the proposal we're seeing many elders lose their home and once they have been able to enjoy for decades said sheila dillon the city's housing chief so we feel very strongly this is a very very vulnerable population that needs to be protected the proposal would protect senior tenants seventy five years or older against arbitrary and reasonable discriminate tory and retaliatory actions if passed the law would only allow a variation for cases such as failure to pay rent or damage to the property the lead up to these draft bills the last months two or three months we're sitting down with the affordable housing advocates the jobs folks and really figuring out what is more important and what we think we can get past so deal and i'm feeling very odd to mr quinn that we've developed a reasonable added that any form of or in control would galvanize the landlords to oppose it kathy brown executive director at boston tenant coalition a nonprofit that promotes affordable housing and expanding the rights of ten said renters who make up the majority of boston residents need protection rent protection is the number one thing that is said at every community meeting when talking about housing crisis and families impacted by it said brown boston's approach in this legislative package is twofold said jill and we really do need to generate additional resources for the creation of affordable housing and we've been doing an admirable job housing stock but the mayor and all of us will say that until we have enough affordable housing for everyone we need to make sure that residents of boston are protected and that they can stay in their homes that's the bottom line thank you and over to max thank you clear housing authority plans should plan changes by sam parker mn tucked away between failure road and sycamore street sherman gardens is home to many elderly and disabled residents the belmont housing authority which manages sherman gardens believes an update is needed for the units which haven't been changed since being built in one thousand nine hundred and one the housing authority requests issued a request for proposals r f p last month to hire a planning consultant to develop a renovation plan for sherman gardens the contract has been awarded to later nardi or a architects l l c redevelopment l l c who is expected to begin work in early january executive director jacqueline martin said the proposal is laying foundations for foundations in other words the st step in planning such a large innovation is finding a planning consultant to help the housing authority create a plan gloria leipzig treasurer of the belmont housing authority says the end goal will be to renovate the eighty units at sherman gardens we want to make them more accessible for the elderly and disabled while creating additional affordable units she said leipzig said the housing authority wants to make improvements to meet eighty year standards at up to community facilities like storage parking and trash placement that do not meet the needs of an eighty unit complex addition additionally non compliant sidewalks poor lighting and poor railings are issues of concern maureen watson whose father is a current resident of sherman gardens says poor railings make it difficult for her father to enter and leave his apartment he's been living with these conditions for over a year now she said the problems won't be resolved anytime soon why isn't this a priority it's a designated elderly and disabled housing but really nothing about these places are handicapped accessible said watson despite these complaints martin said most of the problems with the railings were fixed after a contractor while the old metal railings were being rebuilt temporary wouldn't railings were put in place but watson is still unsatisfied a day after watson complained about the railings a contractor was called to fix them although she appreciated the quick actions watson says she wonders why the housing authority was unable to find a problem beforehand if the contractor was there within a day why weren't there days weeks months before she said all of the housing authority was able to fix the railings quickly there were still concerns about the quality of the work rich mclean brother in law to watson new construction superintendent for an asphalt and concrete cut contracting company said he felt the problems were not adequately fixed they put a big band aid on something that needs to be completely taken apart and rebuilt he said the rest of it just like looks like sloppy workmanship and no pride in their work mclean said he hopes sherman gardens is able to fix these issues for his family members grandfather helped build the complex back in one thousand nine hundred and eighty one mclean believes sherman gardens is overdue for a well done renovation fixing the areas that were built almost fifty years ago other than the large concrete ramp that goes into the community center building everything else was out of compliance he said if you're going to do something try and do it right despite the criticisms martin said she believes the housing authority has been able to take care of the most important issues we have done a great job on focusing on the important matters like keeping up the four walls we do not we do take questions comments concerns and concerns seriously that's why i have a job she also mentioned the twenty four hour on call maintenance service that the housing authority provides to all residents highlighting if there is ever an issue someone will be able to help this is their home and we're here for them leipzig said the housing authority takes care of its residents we take concerns about safety very seriously and care to immediately we take great pride in trying to provide quality housing for these residents with the intention to rent to renovate martin wants to make sure residents are able to live comfortably and safely with the consultant chosen the plan for how the future sherman gardens could potentially look will be determined in the new year the housing authority has received a grant of one hundred and seventy three thousand dollars from community preservation act funds to put towards the redevelopment effort the housing authority wants to build more units to fit the demand of affordable housing in belmont martin says she expects they will begin the process of securing funding for construction after the redevelopment plan is completed and approved in late two thousand and nineteen the actual construction will be dependent upon security securing funding and would not start for approximately three to five years  past at belmont retail stores at least that's what the hopes are of the belmont bag band group which formed in the fall of two thousand and seventeen and help town meeting passed belmont's new general by law purchases in paper bags or reusable bags these larger retailers will no longer be able to supply plastic bags at checkout beginning april th all belmont retail stores regardless of size will be required to beg purchases in paper bags or reusable bags belmont's recycling coordinator mary beth kalman is responsible for them forcing the new general by law according to calum businesses not in compliance with initial will initially received a written warning were a written warning notice and then followed by a fifty dollars fine for a  violation and after a game after the warning notice and a two hundred dollars fine for a nd violation and for each subsequent violation to reset family chairman of sustainable belmont is one of the residents who is part of the belmont bag band group plastic bags don't recycle very well they're not allowed and curbside recycling and end up in sin or a door or even worse end up as litter from litter they end up in water ways and not only clogged storm drains and pollute rivers but when they end up further out at sea can choke sea birds and other animals in the water she said when necessary they were designed to be used for thirty seconds and then tossed ethically ethically that's wrong our goal is to get people to use either no beggar or reusable shopping bag want world film to host a family festival belmont world film fail me festival where stories come alive presented by jackson walnut park school will celebrate theatre forty brattle street cambridge there will be twelve film programmes featuring more than thirty top animated in live action children's films from around the world many based on children's books and several making s premiers plus a live version of w b u r s circle round will present be presented in english and other languages with subtitles read aloud through headphones from belgium brazil china france germany india serbia and the u k and the u s the festival is supported in part by grants from the grave star foundation the mouse cultural council and the cultural office of the consulate general of china in an increasingly multicultural world parents also recognize the importance of fluency in more than one language said belmont world films tell rich in unusual stories that don't rely on special effects to a coup yate a sense of wonder now over to macs thanks to their data breach at mclean hospital exposes sensitive health information new security and training programs to be implemented by joanna cates of venice a press release from the massachusetts attorney general on december th announced mclean hospital corps in belmont will implement new training and security programs and pay a total of seventy five thousand dollars to resolve claims it exposed to the personal and health information of more than one thousand five hundred dollars people according to the complaint filed december th along with  consent judgment in suffolk superior court mclean last for in an encrypted backup computer tapes containing personal and health information of patients employees and the deceased donors of the harvard brain tissue resource center according to the release the attorney general's office alleges mclean violated the consumer protection law the massachusetts data security law and the health insurance portability and accountability act when it failed to properly protect patients personal and health insurance information the complaint alleges mclean allowed an employee to take home eight an encrypted backup tapes containing clinical and demographic information from the harvard brain tissue resource center that the hospital possessed the tapes contain personal information such as names social security numbers diagnoses and family histories when the employee was terminated from her position at mclean in may two thousand and fifteen she only returned four of the tapes and the hospital was unable to recover the others according to the release the complaint also alleges several failures by maclane to identify assess and plan for security risks including failing to properly train employees report the loss of the tapes in a timely manner and encrypt portable devices containing personal information as part of the settlement mclean has agreed to implement and maintain a written information security program provide mandatory training to new employees and existing employees on security of personal and health information encrypt within sixty days all electronic personal and health information in its own and issued portable devices and create and maintain an inventory of these devices according to the release from the attorney general's office mclane has also agreed to a rd party audit of the harvard brain tissue resource centers use and handling of portable devices containing personal and health information and to report to the attorney general's office the results of this audit and any her ective measures the hospital will take in a statement issued to the media mclean hospital wrote since this incident mclean has continued to enhance its privacy and security practices and procedures within the brain bank and throughout the research operation the agreement with the attorney general represents a which includes classrooms studios labs for woodworking technology innovation athletics performances assemblies and more students in belmont days pre k through th grade officially began using the new building upon their return to school have to be holiday break or in january the th the two storey building as two full sized basketball courts two ground floor classrooms a wood shop and a technology innovation lab the nd floor has two classrooms studios and a rd flexible classroom space that w evolve as needed for our curriculum and programs also on the nd floor or a meeting room and an open meeting area or on the mezzanine the bond is the st major campus edition at belmont day since the construction of the middle school building in two thousand and two the total cost of the total project cost eleven million dollars and took about one year to complete along with the building there is a new entrance driveway between six hundred and eighty eight dollars konkan avenue and the eastern border of the highland meadow cemetery as well as eight additional pocking spaces according to brendan larg a head of the school the bonds a modern low impact designed by you child design features a pre engineered steel building with airy sun filled classrooms flexible learning and breakout spaces and a two court multi sports gymnasium with multiple garage style doors to create an indoor outdoor feel construction management throughout the project was led by sharma design and construction additionally on campus improvements included two upgraded athletic fields refurbished tennis and basketball courts a new driveway increased parking and comprehensive landscaping and now want to clare thank you five things to know two things to know about the selectmen meeting by joanna case of  works had to forty two dollars yard contain his plus a ten yard container own by public works this was the th cardboard collection since july st all of the contained his were filled public works said my court said he could arrange designated i was for residents to drop off cardboard on a more regular basis if they have a compact and to  staff planner spencer go berserk gave an update to the selectmen on january th on the dock list bike share program which launched in july part of a fifteen community project led by the metropolitan area planning council m maps e belmont has thirty four line bikes fewer than other communities like bedford which is eighty according to scot new england's director of expansion there is a correlation with the number of bikes deployed in a community and the ridership belmonte averages twenty rides per day the selectmen approved increasing the number of bikes deployed in belmont the actual number will be determined have to mullen analyze the data to determine the ridership demand and ability to manage an increased fleet the map hopes to add electric scooters to the program however they must wait for the state to adopt new legislation that would legalize these types of scooters and now he is max thanks claire listening to the talking news and hope you'll enjoy the show we were returning next week for another edition of local news happenings around belmont