When Wellesley Annual Town Meeting kicks off at the high school on March 25, some of the most familiar faces—and voices—will not be there.
John Schuler, who entered the year as the longest-serving member of Town Meeting after starting his legendary streak in 1953, passed away in February. He’ll be honored with a memorial resolution at the start of Town Meeting.
The next longest streak, at 61 years, belonged to Royall H. Switzler, whose public service has included 9 years as a State Representative, 9 years on the Board of Selectmen (as it was called then), and 31 years as chair of the Wellesley Celebrations Committee. Switzler sent out cards touting his record of public service, but his streak ended with last week’s town election: The outspoken conservative voice fell short in Precinct C by just a handful of votes.
At the age of 86, Switzler acknowledges much of his longtime base has moved away, or in some cases, passed away. He cites the ever-rising tax bills in town as one reason that seniors have headed elsewhere. “Real estate brokers in town used to crow about the real estate taxes being so low here in a town with a train going through it and with easy access to and from Boston,” he says. “Now we’re the 5th-highest taxed town in Massachusetts, and the ones above us are all smaller. It’s changed the make-up of Wellesley in a big way.”
Switzler’s voice, and proposed motions, were familiar parts of Wellesley Town Meeting over the years.
Back in 2021, Town Meeting members spent more than 2 hours debating an article seeking approval for $1.85M to pay for architectural and engineering designs to repair and renovate the insides of the 137-year-old Town Hall building. Switzler and others questioned the shift from gas to electric heating and cooling, and the costs associated with that. A motion to amend the original motion was submitted by Switzler to ensure that the Permanent Building Committee would include a study of comparative costs between electric and natural gas heating systems. Switzler pointed out that electrifying an old and poorly insulated building like Town Hall isn’t the same as electrifying a new school or senior center. Advisory voted in favor of the motion, but Town Meeting narrowly defeated it by a count of 110-94-6.
“We need people in government to offer different viewpoints,” Switzler says. “There is most always two sides to every story.”
While sensitive to Switzler losing his Town Meeting seat, I did joke with him that it’s possible the meeting will not last nearly as long this year. “That could be true,” he agreed.
In the meantime, Switzler has plenty on his plate, as the Celebrations Committee plans for Wellesley’s Wonderful Weekend in May.
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Next in line
With Switzler out of the Town Meeting mix for at least a year, the mantle for longest-serving member now falls upon two residents: Katherine L. “Gig” Babson, Jr., and Arthur S. Priver. They each began serving in 1972.
“I am humbled to think that after sitting in practically the same seat for 53 years (except for my years as Moderator), I will now be sharing the Town Meeting version of the [Boston Post Cane] with my good friend, Art Priver,” says Babson, referencing the cane bestowed upon the town’s oldest resident.
Babson recalls Switzler was a handful when she served as Town Moderator 40 years ago. “Neither of us [she nor Priver] can emulate John Schuler or Royall Switzler in their loudness of voice or their incisive comments,” she says.
Precinct B’s Priver says he has watched Town Meeting evolve over the years. “It gives me a chance to keep up with major Town activities. There used to be more civic involvement, but we fortunately still have people willing to contribute to the community.”
Among Priver’s top memories was bringing in the first computer to use at Town Meeting. That was in the early 1980s to keep track of proposed budget changes. “Gig Babson was chair of Advisory and worked with me. I projected a spreadsheet on a small TV monitor set up on the stage at the middle school.”
Another memory: “My speech supporting a leash law in the 1970s, complete with exhibits. No one else chose to speak after I was finished.”
Priver used a multi-pronged approach to retaining his 3-year term on Town Meeting that included mailing postcards to those who voted the year before, maintaining an email list of people in the precinct, plus “I knock on a few doors.”
Priver, who ran for a seat as soon as he moved to town 53 years ago, lost in his first attempt but was successful the next year and has been since. MBTA Communities zoning and the school budget (he’s a former School Committee chair) are among the warrant articles on his radar this time around.
New faces
Switzler, Babson, and Priver are all familiar names and faces to long-time and even short-time Town Meeting members and watchers. Chand and Hassell? Not so much.
But Neena Chand and Joseph Hassell, a married couple new to town, both won seats with the same number of votes in Precinct G.
For anyone tracking the drama over the past year regarding a proposed assisted living and memory care unit at 200 Pond Rd., the emergence of Chand and Hassell, as well as Jane Hunnewell, on the Town Meeting candidate list might come as no surprise. They all opposed the project—and they all live on Pond Road.
“The proposal at 200 Pond Road really opened our eyes to the importance of being involved in town business to ensure a productive and sustainable future for the town we’ve come to love,” writes Chand, an abutter to the proposed facility, plans for which have now been scrapped at that location. “As you can imagine, the ill-conceived project caused an immense amount of stress for our family, and we want to be involved in making sure that no other family, or citizens, go through what we experienced.”
A silver lining to the experience with the proposed facility is that neighbors who might otherwise not have met were brought together for a common cause. “We’re excited to be new Town Meeting members, and we hope our voice can be impactful on this wonderful community,” Chand says.
I was fortunate to join TM last spring. It’s always a little tough being the new person in the room (particularly when being amongst some folks that have known one another up to 50+ years), but one of the first people to say a warm hello and introduce himself was none other than Mr. Priver.
This was a fun piece to read and it’s always interesting to get backstories of some of the big names around town. As for Mr. Switzler, I must say I am a bit disappointed that I might not get to hear his response to the inevitable ask at a future TM for a $25,000,000 appropriation to build (an initial pilot program of) 5,000* pickleball courts to chip away at the unprecedented and urgent need to ensure that no resident can turn their head more than 90 degrees without seeing a pickleball court from any vantage point in town.
But seriously thank you to all of the long-standing members of TM that have made their mark on the town and helped us maintain a wonderful place to live and raise a family.
*If you were wondering, if my math is correct, yes we could fit 5,000 pickleball courts in town, though it would take up roughly 1.5% of our total land area or 20% of Wellesley College. Please feel free to fact check and correct that one!