The Loyal Opposition

Guest Contributor, Judith Feinleib, Town Meeting Member, Precinct 6

The term loyal opposition is generally associated with Britain’s parliamentary system and is used to describe the party (or parties) in formal opposition to the sitting government. Most critically, the concept specifies that those who oppose are completely loyal to the monarch in the case of the UK or to the country in the case of other parliamentary systems. Equally, the positions the loyal opposition espouses and debates that take place are seen to be central to ensuring that government is a trusted and flourishing institution. The concept is one that Belmont would do well to adopt albeit in a slightly modified form.

For many years, Belmont’s government has relied on a combination of elected, appointed and salaried officials and staff in order to function. Elected officials range from Select Board Members to the Library Board of Trustees and the Board of Health all the way down to Town Meeting Members. Salaried officials and employees consist of department heads including but not limited to the Town Administrator, DPW head, Police and Fire Chiefs, Health Department senior staff as well as to all the people who work in those departments.

Many of the needs that are not met by these two groups are undertaken by volunteers who are appointed to various positions; the list of committees on which they serve is readily available on the town website. While they volunteer for these appointments, in many cases, they wield enormous power and officially answer only to those who appointed them. Perhaps because of this, many (though not all) committees have functioned with relatively little scrutiny from either Town Meeting Members or the public at large.

Of late, the amount of scrutiny has increased. Aided by Zoom, which makes attending meetings easy, private citizens and Town Meeting Members as well as members of organized groups have begun not only to speak out but to question committees and the work their members do; this is happening on an ongoing basis. It also includes those who have flocked to the polls to express their opinions with the most powerful tool they have — their vote!

The reactions of many elected, appointed and salaried officials has ranged from surprise to irritation. Surprise was the word frequently used in comments on the rejection of the April, 2021 override by Belmont’s voters. Irritation describes the reactions of some committees and their members to questions about and criticism of process, policies and the recommendations they make.

While these responses are a reaction to changes that are happening in Belmont, they are defensive in that many members of the establishment — elected, appointed and salaried — appear to be invested in retaining the status quo. Those who oppose their positions are often felt to be unseemly and possibly troublemakers.

This need not be the response. Whether people vote against an override to make government pay attention and adhere to the views they expressed publicly for months at meetings, speak out as private citizens, vote in opposition at Town Meeting, or even form a group that evaluates what Belmont’s government is doing and works to modify or change it, they do so because they care about the town. They want Belmont to be as good a place to live as possible.

Admittedly, it is a disparate group that has been speaking out and working to create change. It is comprised of people who, in many cases, are learning to flex their muscles with respect to government interaction and whose efforts are, therefore, sometimes more and sometimes less, polished.

Be that as it may, these are people who want and are insisting on open discussion and debate. They want and are insisting on governmental transparency. They want and are insisting on transforming the relatively static processes that have been a hallmark of Belmont government for many years. They want and are insisting on being part of a Belmont government that is a vibrant and inclusive organism.

Though they are a bit different than the British model, be they individuals or members of organized groups, they are the absolutely loyal opposition. It is long past time for Belmont’s governing establishment — elected, appointed and salaried — to welcome them aboard.

Judith Feinleib, a Precinct 6 Town meeting member, has a doctorate in political science and, as an independent consultant, helps people with social media posting, writing and in-house corporate communications.