Weston Governance Committee Rehearses Town Meeting Case Against Expanding Select Board

WESTON — May 1, 2025 — Weston's Town Governance Study Committee voted to keep its recommendation against expanding the Select Board from three to five members ahead of Monday's Annual Town Meeting. Meeting remotely on May 1, Chair Harvey Boshart led the committee through a detailed rehearsal of the slide presentation members Michael Pappone and Alice Benson will deliver on May 5. Town Moderator Rip Hastings, who participated in the committee's research but did not vote on its recommendation, outlined the order of speakers: Lori Bent will make the formal motion, the committee will present, and Select Board members Sue Zacharias and Rachel Stewart will follow. The committee's findings include that roughly 82 percent of Eastern Massachusetts peer towns already have five-member boards but that very few have converted recently, that Weston's population has been stable since 1980, and that approximately 55 percent of Select Board races over the past 11 years were uncontested. Member Kara Fleming noted that the town of Ayer reverted from five members to three due to board conflict, and Belmont voted an increase down twice, most recently last fall.