The five current members of the Holden Select Board are Anthony Renzoni, Stephanie Mulroy, Rick Bates, Tom Curran and Geri Herlihy. This year, the seats occupied by Mr. Renzoni and Mr. Bates are up for election. Three current members — Mr. Renzoni, Mr. Bates and Ms. Mulroy — vote together as a right-wing bloc, opposed to any changes that would (in my opinion) lead to better governance and greater transparency. Over the past year, the number of 3-2 votes in opposition to reasonable measures has been considerable. This majority governs the Select Board according to its own narrow ideology. Only after public prompting did they recently vote to allow six months of Board minutes to be publicly released.
Mr. Renzoni is to be lauded for his many years of volunteerism and service to the community. But since 2016, he has undergone a political transformation, now seeing things from a rigid right-wing perspective out of touch with the majority of moderate Holdenites. Ms. Mulroy always falls in line with Mr. Renzoni, and Mr. Bates tends to do so as well.
We now have the chance to break up this obstructionist bloc on the Select Board. The two moderates on the Board need rational and reasonable partners who will work for Holden’s best interests. Linda Long-Bellil and Aidan Slaten are who we need to move Holden into the future. Ms. Long-Bellil has been a highly effective member of the WRSD School Committee since 2015. A thoughtful moderate, she will bring careful deliberation to any vote she would take on the Select Board. Mr. Slaten would bring a voice currently lacking in town government: a young parent who has spent all of his 30 years in Holden, excepting those he spent in the Marine Corps. He represents a generation of Holdenites struggling with the high costs of housing, childcare, and building small businesses here.
Join me in voting for Linda Long-Bellil and Aidan Slaten for Select Board on May 13 so that we bring more effective town government to Holden.
Brendan P. O’Malley
Holden
