Select Board's Hybrid Meeting Signals Efforts at Improving Communication with Westwood Residents

Westwood Select Board’s hybrid meeting on Wednesday evening, February 25th – which offered residents an option to attend in-person for the first time in years - was a new departure from its COVID-era practice of holding meetings only remotely, and one of several signs that the board is responding to residents’ calls for improved communication and greater transparency.

Chairperson Marianne LeBlanc Cummings  stated her support for increasing opportunities for residents to speak with Select Board. “Thankfully we’re now in the post pandemic era,” she said. “And I think that many of us are suffering from a bit of lack of human connection. There’s a bit of isolation that comes with remote work, whether you’re working from home now (many more of us are doing that) or just attending remote meeting after remote meeting. And we began hearing from residents that they wanted to have some in-person meetings,” she said.

“I do think that being with one another in the room fosters that human connection. And the data shows that it fosters better communication and more engagement,” said Ms. Cummings. She noted the board's intention to continue with hybrid meetings from now on.

Ms. Cummings also noted that she had asked Town Administrator Connor Read, newly sworn in during Wednesday’s meeting, to draft a public comment policy so that members of the public are clear on how they can participate. 

“We’ve all been beaten up over the fact that people feel as though we’re not listening,” said Select Board Clerk Joe Previtera, at one point in the discussion.

As explained by Mr. Read, the draft policy includes a meeting format which allows public comment at the meeting’s beginning. Each speaker would have three minutes to speak. This sounds similar to the board’s current practice of public participation. However, whereas the board has recently operated under a policy of not answering the public’s questions during the public comment time, the board now seems very interested in providing answers. 

“We’ve all heard people say, ‘We ask questions but we never get an answer.’ Let’s make sure the public knows loud and clear tonight, we will follow up on your questions. . . period,” said Mr. Previtera. He had counted five questions that had arisen from the community during Wednesday's meeting. He pledged to ensure that the questions receive answers.

Mr. Read observed that the board must balance more public participation with the necessity to complete the board's business, given limited time. Mr. Read will be working more on the draft policy, and the board hopes to hold discussion on the revised document at the board’s next meeting.

Mr. Read reminded Ms. Cummings and Mr. Previtera that future boards could change this Select Board’s policy. Also, even while this board attempts to encourage “maximum participation” among residents, Select Board retains an obligation not to answer questions being discussed in executive session, until the matter is resolved, he said.

In another new sign of increased openness with residents, Town Administrator Read will be holding office hours for the public with Ms. Cummings on Friday, March 6th, at 10:00 a.m. at the Westwood Main Library. He will hold office hours for the public with Mr. Previtera on Wednesday, March 18th at 4:30 p.m. in Islington, he said.

Ahead of those dates, community members have a chance to speak with Mr. Read at a meet-and-greet on Monday, March 2nd, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the main library. The meet and greet was originally scheduled for February 23rd, but like Select Board’s meeting that day, was rescheduled due to a snowstorm.

“I take very seriously that a really important part of my job is that I need to build relationships with all of you in the community that if we’re going to be doing important and consequential work on your behalf – building projects and things of that nature – that we need to be able to work together to share differences of opinion while still believing that everyone’s working toward the same goals,” said Mr. Read.

Ms. Cummings also addressed resident Erin Sibley’s push for a responsive statement by the board to a successful citizens’ petition which resulted in calling a town meeting at which majority of residents urged the board to drop its suit against Westwood Land Trust. The Town of Westwood, through Select Board, has sued WLT for failing to allow the town to lease eight acres of conservation land for farming. WLT holds a conservation restriction on that land, and has the authority to decide how the land can be used.

The citizens petition was initiated by Ms. Sibley, and she has described it as a method to force a townwide discussion on the WLT litigation issue, where residents felt information on the topic from Select Board was inadequate or not forthcoming.

Ms. Cummings said the town was waiting to meet with its lawyer before making a statement. “That said, we do want to thank everyone who braved a very cold night to participate in our democratic process. We know this is an issue that many residents care very deeply about,” she said.

Public comments raised at the Wednesday night board meeting reflected wide ranging concerns and perspectives, from both online and in-person participants. Comments included:

• An in-person comment raising the concern that the assistant town administrator and deputy town administrator jobs and titles may be positions created outside the allowances of the town charter. A request was made for the topic to be discussed at the next Select Board meeting. 

• An in-person suggestion that the scorecard, being used by the FS1 Steering Committee to assess three leading sites for a new Fire Station 1, should be consistently applied to all eight possible sites. Also, the committee should consider additional factors such as green space, a walkable town, effect on abutters, and effect on residential tax base.

• An online comment praising Westwood’s Department of Public Works for outstanding work clearing roads in the recent snowstorm.

Updated 2/26/2026 at 10:26 a.m.

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