BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
Belmont selected a new mayor and vice mayor while paying tribute to late Councilman Eric Reed and celebrating the accomplishments of the city in the past year.
Reed, 50, died Friday after a yearslong battle with prostate cancer. His death was two years to the day after he was named mayor of Belmont, pointed out current
Mayor Charles Stone.
“He was facing a death sentence with cancer and he was deeply sorry that he had somehow let us down,” Stone said after talking about how Reed apologized for missing Tuesday’s (Dec. 12) meeting.
Reed’s longtime friend, Tim Hoffman, spoke at the beginning of the meeting. Hoffman and Stone considered postponing his update on SchoolForce, a nonprofit for the Belmont-Redwood Shores School district, but decided against it, saying Reed would want the show to go on, Hoffman said. “He will be terribly missed and I miss him dearly already,” Hoffman said.
Amid the remembrances of Reed, the council selected Doug Kim as mayor and Davina Hurt as vice mayor (they start their new roles in 2018) and celebrated Stone’s successes as mayor.
Some of the accomplishments mentioned included the groundbreaking for the Merry Moppet preschool, raising the city’s minimum wage and approving new zoning plans for the city and the Belmont Village.
Laura Reed, acting as a surrogate for her late husband, wrote Stone a note, which was read by Father Michael Arase-Barham of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church.
“You hear that government moves slowly and perhaps in some cases that’s true, or it’s an excuse for those lacking the vision to get the job done,” Arase-Barham read. “There is nothing slow about the progress made in Belmont this year. You got the job done.”
Stone, Reed and Councilman Warren Lieberman were elected in 2015 and their terms are up in 2018. The council will meet at 11 a.m. today (Dec. 14) in City Hall to discuss the vacant seat on council.
