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COS Indigenous Peoples' Day endorsement Community Organized for Solidarity The members of Community Organized for Solidarity support the petition addressed to Select Board Chair Roy Epstein to officially change the name from “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” in the town of Belmont. On Jan. 29, members of COS discussed the following reasons why we adamantly support this change: • Celebrating Columbus Day contributes to the miseducation of the Belmont community because it ignores the genocide and enslavement of native peoples at the hands of white settlers like Christopher...

Jintao Zhai/Correspondent Wicked Local Asian Americans in Belmont are rallying around a common anti-racism cause to address underrepresentation in Belmont’s organizations and reduce racial tensions, according to Julie Wu, senior member of the town’s Pan-Asian Coalition. She said Asians make up nearly 20% of the town’s population but are underrepresented in the town’s committees. Among nine members of the Diversity Task Force, only two are of Asian descent, said Wu, 54, a Taiwanese American who co-founded the coalition in mid-March. Wu said she had sent the Select Board a petition re...

Belmont residents push Select Board to hire diversity director for town in wake of racial killing By Jeremy C. Fox Globe Correspondent,Updated January 27, 2021, 10:46 p.m. Email to a Friend Some Belmont residents called for the town to hire a diversity director and to provide funding for local antiracist organizations during a Wednesday night Select Board meeting to discuss the killing last week of a Black and Latino man in the town, allegedly by a white man who used a racial slur. Town officials heard from Black, Hispanic, and Asian residents about their firsthand experiences with racism dur...

Wicked Local Many residents and business owners who feel financially strained due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are unhappy about the Select Board's recent decision on Jan. 22 to put a $6.4 million override question on the ballot in the upcoming town election. For a home assessed at $1.25 million, this would increase the property taxes by $896. Why not delay putting override on ballot? Dawn McKerron is one of the co-founders of Citizens for a Fiscally Responsible Belmont, a group whose mission is to work collaboratively with town officials to increase accountability, transparency and responsibi...

Wicked Local The Select Board voted to offer external candidate David DeStefano the Belmont fire chief position on Jan. 21, contingent upon the negotiation and execution of a contract. DeStefano is currently the shift commander/battalion chief for the North Providence Fire Department. Three finalists were publicly interviewed on Jan. 21. The other two finalists were internal candidate Acting Chief Wayne Haley and external candidate James Peplau, battalion chief of the Waterbury, Connecticut Fire Department.   Select Board Chairman Roy Epstein, Vice Chairman Tom Caputo and member Adam Das...