Asleep at the Switch… or Defying Weston Voters?
At the May 2022 Town Meeting, residents overwhelmingly approved Article 24, a petition to increase the size of the Select Board from three to five members. The Select Board had opposed this Article, and instead spoke in favor of Article 23, which sought authorization to fund a consulting study on the size and structure of Town government generally. The residents’ vote, however, was compelling – 72% voted in favor of expanding the size of the Board and 82% voted against the proposed consulting study. Nevertheless, this week the Select Board confirmed their intentional delay and questionable future support of Article 24 to increase the size of the Board, and are instead moving ahead with their broader Town government study.
We believe the Select Board is obligated to move forward to implement the voters’ will in a timely manner – certainly morally, if not legally – to fulfill their duty to their constituents and respect the town’s democratic process. It has been said that Weston’s Town Meeting is the purest form of democracy, but this disregard and disrespect for the expressed desires of the Weston voters raises a much graver issue about the health of Weston’s democracy. This is not an isolated instance, but just one example of patronizing leadership behavior that should be deeply concerning to all of us – ignoring resident wishes, relitigating issues that have already been decided, and moving ahead in defiance of voters when they don’t vote the way the Select Board wants them to.
What is the Role of the Weston Select Board?
The Select Board operates as the executive function of Weston town government. The Select Board plays a primary role in policy making, administration and financial management. Their oversight and decision making covers a wide variety of important issues.
When the three-member Select Board was created in 1713, Weston was a small farming town. The only important project was building Weston’s first church. Since then, population, issues, and projects have increased in size and complexity. Weston faces challenges in growth and infrastructure. For example, the state’s affordable housing mandate will require being responsive to changing demographics and modifying services and schools. A Select Board of only three people cannot effectively manage this volume and complexity of issues.
Expansion will:
Increase representation for our growing and diversifying population.
Bring additional ideas, professional competencies, life experiences and perspectives to complex challenges.
Increase availability of Select Board members to meet with other town boards/committees, take action, and increase productivity.
Increase the ability of the Board to work between meetings and advance dialog on important issues; with a board of three, if any two members discuss a town matter outside of an official meeting, it constitutes violation of the open meeting law.
Decrease the workload of individual members – perhaps the Josiah Smith Tavern leases would be signed so the building can be occupied, adding value to Weston.
We are grateful for the significant amount of time these individuals dedicate to the needs of the Town. At the same time, we need to be sure that the Select Board, taken as a whole, has the capacity to deal with all the issues that we face now and in Weston’s next phase. We don’t believe that can be true with only three members.
Where are we since the May Town Meeting?
To date, the Select Board has taken no action to enact the change that voters authorized. At the September 27th Select Board meeting, a resident asked for an update and the Select Board said that it was planned to be part of the discussion on “Project and Priorities” at the meeting scheduled for October 11th. Immediately prior to that meeting, the agenda item regarding Projects and Priorities was deleted from the agenda. That elimination removed all discussion on a whole range of important issues.
Then, at the meeting of the Select Board on October 25th, Select Board members confirmed their intentional delay and questionable future support of this Article despite the clear mandate from Weston voters. Instead, the Select Board is conceiving a comprehensive study of Town governance as part of a larger "master plan," and may then consider moving forward only if they believe the results of their study support what has already been voted for by Weston residents. The Select Board has taken the position that the Town Meeting vote on Article 24 was “to authorize, not obligate” the Select Board to increase from three to five members, using a legal technicality in the language of the Article to disregard the voters. Behavior like this erodes trust in our elected officials.
What needs to happen now?
It’s not too late to have this change in the size of the Select Board approved by the state legislature and on the ballot in time for Weston’s 2023 local election. With some focus and some effort, a bill could be in front of the state Legislature in the fall informal session, passed, and then signed by the new Governor by the end of February. What’s needed is good faith action immediately by the Weston Select Board to implement the voters’ mandate.