Voters approve Select Board expansion

More than three years after residents first expressed support for an expanded Select Board, voters affirmed the decision at the ballot box on Jan. 13, setting up a five-member board for May’s annual town election.

The results, 553-294, were announced at Town Hall after polls closed. With 8,653 registered voters, voter turnout was 9.79%, mirroring participation in other town elections. Since 2014, election participation has averaged 13.52% of registered voters. The 2020 town election drew the highest turnout, with 29.37% of voters heading to the polls.

With voters approving the expansion, there will be two new Select Board positions on the May annual town election ballot, one for a three-year term and one for a two-year term. Additionally, Tom Palmer’s three-year Select Board seat will be up for election. In that election, the top two vote-getters will serve the three-year terms, while the person with the third-most votes will serve the two-year term.

“I’m very happy because I served on a board for 17 years that was five people; it was very effective,” said Sue Zacharias, a former longtime Planning Board member who kicked off the expansion effort in 2021. “Clearly people watched the presentations at Town Meeting and they processed that info, and they made their decisions.”

Zacharias added that a five-member board – most Weston committees and boards have five or more members – can be more efficient and allows for greater diversity of opinions.

“We could actually talk about things,” she said. “It was a very rewarding experience because there was no one domineering person.”

In November 2021, Zacharias broached the topic with the Select Board. After the board declined to proceed, Zacharias filed a nonbinding citizens’ petition for the 2022 Annual Town Meeting, which was overwhelmingly approved by those in attendance.

Select Board members at the time, however, stated they wanted more information, and in 2023 created the Town Governance Study Committee to examine the potential impact of expansion on town government and its practices across all levels of the town. Residents continued to press the Select Board, and the Study Committee shifted its focus solely to expansion. An article was placed on the 2025 Annual Town Meeting warrant, which was again approved by voters, setting up the special election.

With Weston’s Select Board set to expand in the spring, Select Board Chair Lise Revers, who has supported the expansion effort, encouraged residents to participate in the May election.

“I want to thank the Weston residents who participated in this election process to determine the size of our town’s Select Board. Whether residents voted to increase the size of the Select Board to five members or to keep it at three members, our ability to use the democratic process to determine how to govern our town is something we should never take for granted,” Revers said. “I also want to urge residents to consider making an even deeper commitment to our town’s democratic future by running for Weston’s Select Board in the spring election cycle.”

Weston’s annual town election is typically set for the first or second Saturday in May.