Mates is the right choice for Belmont

Warren Lieberman is a Yale-educated corporate executive and 17-year politician. After meeting with him, my impression is he’s a poor listener, he thinks rigidly, and he wants to stay in office for the prestige and power. I also have serious misgivings about him due to newspaper articles I’ve read stating he was on a sewer district board when it purchased a $2,540,000 six-bedroom house for the agency’s manager, gave him a $875,000 severance after being fired for sexual harassment, and kept the public in the dark about it. I feel that he represents a return to Belmont’s past, when the city was run to benefit political and socioeconomic elites rather than ordinary citizens. It’s no wonder he’s endorsed by several former politicians.

My meeting with Julia Mates was completely different. She’s down-to-earth, open-minded and a great listener. She has a “we’re all in this together” mindset and wants to make the community better for everyone, not just the well-connected. As a renter, woman of color and parent of public school students, she can relate to the wider community. Unlike Lieberman, she’s endorsed by this newspaper, our current state senator and assemblymembers, and four county supervisors. She’s better positioned to negotiate with these higher officeholders on regional issues like transit, housing and public safety. After meeting with both candidates, it’s clear that Mates is the right choice for our future.

Paul Sheng

Belmont