Weston Governance Panel Sharpens Presentation for Select Board Expansion Hearing

WESTON — March 20, 2025 — Weston's Town Governance Study Committee finalized a public presentation on expanding the Select Board from three to five members, ahead of a March 27 hearing. Chair Harvey Boshart and the six-member panel meeting online spent nearly two hours revising slide language and ordering, agreeing to frame data from comparable Massachusetts towns as inconclusive — in Town Moderator Rip Hastings's phrasing, the research "does not strongly support or dissuade the three to five question." The committee also added a finding that five-member boards carry reduced transparency because any two members may deliberate privately without violating open meeting law. Town Counsel confirmed via email during the meeting that the state's 90-day special election requirement runs from when the election is called, not when it is held — a distinction members said is critical to avoiding a summer election at a time when, by one postal estimate, 38 percent of Weston households are away. Michael Harrity was assigned to draft the warrant article explanation for the Select Board's review by the following Monday; Michael Pappone will present the full research package at the March 27 public hearing.