Three city council seats up for November election
Volume X Issue 1
Published September 2018
It’s election season in Belmont.
As a wave of historic political fervor heats up elections for seats in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, city council elections are occurring across the Peninsula. In Belmont, three city council positions are on the ballot, as well as measures regarding an increase on the hotel tax and to make City Clerk and City Treasurer appointed — as opposed to elected — positions.
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The three incumbents running for reelection include Warren Lieberman — who has served on the City Council since 2005, Charles Stone — who served since 2013, and Julia Mates — who was appointed to succeed Eric Reed following his death in December 2017.
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Challenging the three incumbents is Deniz Bolbol, whose campaign aims to increase the City Council’s transparency and responsiveness.
“Based on my experiences, the current Council is not responsive to the majority of residents,” said Bolbol. “On Council I will insist that resident concerns are openly discussed, instead of being rebuked as they have been by this council. I will call out any lack of transparency.”
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Even as political divisions plague national politics, Bolbol expresses her interest in speaking for Belmontians rather than political parties.
“We have enough divisive politics in our country; what we need in Belmont are candidates who represent Belmont residents not parties.” Bolbol said. “ I have no ‘agenda’ except to respect and represent concerns expressed by residents [...] — my campaign is by residents, for residents.”
On the other hand, the incumbents have explicitly laid out their priorities for the city moving forward.
“I have several priorities I’d like to focus on as a city councilmember: maintaining 911 response and neighborhood police staffing levels; fixing our streets, potholes, and old infrastructure; keeping Belmont a family-friendly community, and managing traffic,” Mates said.
Behind these plans, Mates describes her primary concern to be ensuring that the City Council represents the desires of Belmont.
Mates said, “My overarching goal is to continue to work for the people of Belmont in listening to all perspectives of an issue, taking in all the available information on an issue, and then analyzing all the facts and making the best decision possible for residents.”
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Likewise, Stone echoed Mates’s outlook and reaffirmed his commitment to fixing Belmont’s infrastructure and traffic congestion.
“Traffic congestion on Ralston Avenue can be brutal at peak commute times,” Stone said. “However, the Council and staff have been working hard to find funding to implement the Ralston Corrridor Study solutions and Four Corners (Alameda de las Pulgas) Corridor Study solutions.”
Recent implementation of these study solutions have included the installation of a new stoplights along Ralston Ave. — at Tahoe Drive and South Rd. — as well as improvements at Davis Drive.
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Stone also highlighted the recent successes of Belmont’s housing development.
Stone said, “For the first time in decades, the City Council is not anti-development. As a result, we have finally been successful with smart and reasonably housing development along the transit corridor.”
Beyond the search for solutions to Belmont’s problems, Stone expressed his interest in community-oriented developments.
“We really need to continue focusing on dealing with financial, housing, and transportation issues, but I would love to see more focused work on building a modern community/rec center at Barrett that could bring the whole town together,” Stone said.
While discussions of increased development have become central to the City Council’s work in recent years, the incumbents’ vision is not shared by everyone.
“I have the support of residents all over Belmont who feel disenfranchised because the current Council members ignored their input,” said Bolbol. “The incumbents are running as a slate and are heavily funded by political insiders.”
Democracy gives the people a say in the process of governance. At a local level, city council elections every two years grant the residents of Belmont their say, and, come November, it will be that time again.