Politics & Government

First Hat Thrown In: Colton Announces Run for Selectman's Seat

Warwick Road resident will be on the ballot in April's Town Election.

That didn't take long.

Less than a week after Ralph Jones announced that we would not be seeking re-election onto the Belmont Board of Selectmen, Roger Colton has made it official by releasing a statement committing to run to fill the open seat on the board to be decided at the annual Town Election in April, 2014.

The Warwick Road resident – who is married to School Committee member Ann Lougee – is the first resident to officially announce his candidacy although it is expected several more will take up the challenge with an open seat being contested. 

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Colton, who currently is the co-chair of the Belmont Energy Committee, had created a campaign committee with the town in September.

Below is Colton's announcement:

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I will seek election to Belmont’s Board of Selectmen at the town election in April 2014.

I want to join the Board of Selectmen because I have the skills required to lead our community in these times of constant economic pressure and a lack of trust in government by too many of Belmont’s residents.

Belmont, like every town or city, faces many challenges in the coming years.  I am willing and able to lead the town in acting upon these challenges.  They include:

• Maintaining both the financial health and the physical attractiveness of our “Town of Homes”; 

• Identifying  and implementing zones of potential business development to add to Belmont’s tax base;

• Controlling costs, including both direct and indirect staff costs, while respecting the enormously important work that our town employees do;

• Addressing our aging infrastructure in order to sustain our community for our children and grandchildren; and

• Making local government more accessible to all our citizens, to restore their faith in the town’s leadership and encourage them to take an active role in solving the challenges that face us all.

Meeting these challenges will present hard choices.  They are choices that we must not avoid; they are choices that will require taking action rather than continuing to delay.  Belmont needs leadership that will communicate, will work creatively and collaboratively, and will display the vision and courage that will be necessary to keep our community such a desirable place to live.  

I bring a track record of leadership and proven success in getting things done for Belmont.  Through my actions, I have helped:

• Bring the community together to decide how to preserve and develop the historic Waverley Square Fire Station.  

• Increase Belmont’s stock of affordable housing, including the construction of Belmont’s Habitat for Humanity house, the first H4H home built in greater Boston outside of the City of Boston.

• Curb wasteful spending by spearheading Belmont’s ESCO project, which has significantly reduced energy usage in our schools and town buildings.  

• Increase community participation and communication by founding and coordinating www.BelmontBudget.org, a resource for Town Meeting Members and the community, to provide financial information on our Town government revenues and expenditures. 

• Control stormwater runoff from new construction by authoring the Town’s newly adopted Stormwater Management Bylaw.

To learn more about me, please visit me on Facebook: RogerColtonforBelmontSelectman. 

You can also join the conversation about Belmont’s future by joining me on Twitter: @Roger4Belmont.  

I can be reached by e-mail or by phone at 617-484-0594.

I look forward to talking with each of you in the coming months, and learning more about what your ideas are for our community. Working together, we can make the hard choices needed to sustain and improve Belmont as we face our future.   


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