While there were six contested races in Wellesley’s town-wide election, the Natural Resources Commission contest between incumbent Raina McManus and challenger Lisa Collins was the most talked about heading into Tuesday because of the NRC’s central role in deciding on the track & fields lights issue. It will be the most talked about following the election, too, in the wake of Collins winning the three-year seat with 61% of the vote, according to final results released by the town on Wednesday (embedded below).
Updated with final results on 3/2/22
Collins earned 2,832 votes, the most in any of the contested races, and won in all eight precincts.
Now the big question is whether the NRC will still be voting on the School Committee’s lights proposal on March 17.
In the Select Board race, incumbent Lise Olney won seven of eight precincts in topping Odessa Sanchez, who remains a Wellesley Housing Authority commissioner.
Craig Mack outdistanced Neal Glick in the School Committee contest with 52% of the vote to about 40%. Mack took seven of eight precincts. The School Committee seat opened when incumbent Jim Roberti decided not to run.
Incumbent Planning Board Chair Catherine Johnson lost to Marc Charney, who won seven of eight precincts in his bid for the 5-year-seat. In the Library Board of Trustees races, Marla Robinson and Ann Howley were re-elected for three-year terms. Linshi Li won the race for the one-year term.
Voters also chose Town Meeting members for their precincts. Town Meeting is set to start on March 28.
Just over a quarter of active voters (27%) cast their ballots. The preliminary results are based on ballots electronically tabulated.
Thanks to all who ran, campaigned, voted, and braved cold temps to hold signs.
Congratulations Lise Olney! Kim Clement
Congrats Lisa! New world order. Let there be light! If I were part of the school committee I would tell the NRC no need to vote on the current limited scope proposal that the NRC has sat on forever and come back to them with a more robust all inclusive proposal. If the WHS neighbors can’t deal with the lights and events they can move. Just like I can move if I can not deal with the train that goes through my backyard.
There’s that community building spirit we keep hearing about!!!
Good to see the true Wellesley spirit shine through. With adults like this, it’s not hard to imagine why there may be a bullying problem in the school system.
Congratulations to the winners. I’d like to congratulate Neal Glick for running a strong and clean campaign. His communication was top notch and the message was simple and clear. Garnering 44% of the vote shows that his message resonated with the Wellesley voters.
I’d like to take a moment to mention an e-mail from Wellesley Democratic Town Committee that specifically targeted the candidacy of Neal Glick. In it the auther falsely accuses Neal of being a divisive right winger, spread falsehoods and lies. The WDTC should be ashamed of its leadership, which has turned the election for an open School Board seat into an 11th hour smear campaign. This rhetoric runs contrary to the Town of Wellesley’s new Civil Discourse initiative in every possible way.
We can do better Wellesley.
Congratulations Lise Olney Yasser Lawendi