Weston Governance Panel Splits Peer-Town Reports to Guide Select Board Recommendation

WESTON — September 19, 2024 — Weston's Town Governance Study Committee divided six peer-community reports among its members as it works toward a recommendation on expanding the Select Board from three to five members. Chair Harvey Boshart convened the September 19 session with members Michael Harrity, Michael Pappone, and Town Moderator Rip Hastings, alongside Town Manager Leon Gaumond. The panel assigned Holliston, Belmont, Duxbury, Milton, Wenham, and Sharon — each of which has a published study-committee report on board size — to individual members for analysis before the group's next meeting October 3. Hastings flagged that Belmont's 2018 committee voted nine to four to recommend expansion, yet the town's board remains at three members. Harrity noted a counterintuitive pattern in a population chart: among towns above 15,000 residents, those with five-member boards tended to have town managers while those with three had town administrators. Gaumond cautioned that the administrator-versus-manager label is unreliable, saying job authority often diverges from job title — a complication the committee acknowledged will require deeper scrutiny of individual charters and job descriptions.