Library's Amphitheater a Fitting Locale for Makeshift Candidate Forum

"The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion." Molly Ivins

The plot thickened and the confusion mounted Thursday as Belmont Chamber of Commerce members scrambled to piece back together the long-planned Candidates' Forum aimed at giving Belmont voters an opportunity to hear from the six candidates vying for a seat on the Belmont City Council.  

But throughout the day, two of the three sponsors of the event withdrew.

At 10:00 a.m., the six candidates for Belmont City Council (Gladwyn d'Souza, Michael Verdone, Charles Stone, Eric Reed, incumbent Warren Lieberman, and Kristin Mercer) were informed via email that one of the three sponsors, and the moderator of the evening's forum, the League of Women Voters, was withdrawing from the event. The reason for their withdrawal, according to Gayle Hardte, the League's director of voter services, was that the group felt it had been undermined by a flyer that was mailed out to the voters last week by the Chamber. 

"We didn't want to be associated with a forum that was perceived as biased," said Hardte. 

By early afternoon, the Belmont Library also pulled out stating that they had no knowledge of and did not endorse the flyer distributed by the Belmont Chamber of Commerce.

By 5:30 p.m. Thursday, the Chamber put the word out that the forum was canceled and printed flyers to hand to those who showed up at the library. By 6:30 p.m., a crowd had gathered and all six candidates agreed to stay and informally "meet-and-greet" on the sidewalk in front of the locked library.

Several people were clearly upset by the cancellation notice.

Irene Pappas said she had just finished working an eight- hour day only to arrive at the library to be told it was closed and the forum was canceled. How disrespectful of the voters," said Pappas.
Belmont residents Christine Ercoli and Julie Stewart were also disappointed that the forum wouldn't take place as planned.

"I wanted to meet the candidates and hear what they have to say on the issues," said Ercoli.

Stewart added that this was the first time she had come to a candidates night, and that she too, was looking forward to expressing her concerns about traffic in Belmont.

"I live near Fox School, and I have problems with the traffic in my neighborhood. Sometimes I can't even get out of my driveway, and I want to  hear what they have to say about that," said Stewart. 

And Sherri Garouette recalled coming to a similar forum in 2011.

"I found it very helpful and I'd like to hear what they have to say tonight."

Click on the video and the photos above for some of the highlight's from Thursday's event.

By 7:00 p.m., thanks to a crowd of concerned voters, six willing candidates, a volunteer moderator and an empty amphitheater, Chamber representatives went ahead with a scaled-down version of the forum. 

(Fittingly, the word "amphitheater" derives from ancient Greek, meaning "on both sides")

John Boykin, former president of the Cipriani Homeowners Association, offered to fill in as an ad-hoc moderator, and invited each candidate to provide a short introduction. 

Each candidate gave a brief introduction and outlined the issues that are important to them. Members of the audience then had an opportunity to ask several questions.

Jeff Selman, who was in the audience Thursday night, summed up the makeshift event in a comment on a Belmont Patch:

"Those who stayed for the informal gathering seemed pleased with the event," wrote Selman Thursday night.

"I am happy to say that the community in Belmont won tonight and got to hear from 6 city council candidates. That is what mattered to everyone gathered at the library, and the candidates delivered notwithstanding the earlier events of the day. Each candidate introduced themselves, and then the crowd gathered in the library amphitheater shouted out a total of three questions which each candidate took 20 seconds to answer. No need for formal moderating organizations; this was done by good old-fashioned working together. And I challenge anyone to suggest that there was bias. Congratulations to all who participated."

The Chamber's Mary Morrissey Parden commented at the end of the evening that the Chamber's goal was to offer a forum that would raise the issues that Belmont voters are interested in.

"It (the flyer) was not intended to do anything other than to provoke comment. We do talk to people in the community--they are our customers and our clients and these are the concerns we have heard," said Morrissey Parden.

"We always knew the League of Women Voters was moderating, were just there to open and close the event. The Belmont community is very interested in what our candidates have to say and the purpose of this forum was to promote free speech and democracy," she added.

When asked if the forum scheduled for Oct. 24 was still on the calendar, Morrissey Parden said that the Chamber may consider a different format.