Wellesley Media in its latest “Wellesley Perspectives” piece puts its spotlight on Town Clerk KC Kato and the team of workers who helped the March 3 election run smoothly.

Previous Wellesley Perspectives: Police Chief Scott Whittemore reviews 2025, looks ahead to 2026

Candidates for the contested races, Select Board and School Committee, addressed the school’s growing budget amid dwindling enrollment, the MassBay Forest development proposal and answered an audience question about whether the town would be willing to sign an order preventing ICE from using municipal land, among other things.

(See Wellesley Media recording of the Feb. 12 forum.)

Development

 
Hope Crosier, a Wellesley resident of about 20 years, said she is concerned about development in the community and the speed with which that is happening.

“Development is a big issue,” she said. “How it’s changing the landscape of the town is really so steep and fast that that’s an important topic.” 

All three candidates running for Select Board spoke out against the state’s MassBay Community College development proposal, which has sparked concerns that the nearby forest may be impacted. State officials have indicated the 40-acre forest abutting the 5-acre parking lot at MassBay won’t be built on, but town officials and residents still have plenty of questions for the state about its plans.

“None of us wanted this to happen — ever. We thought the forest was ours forever,” incumbent Beth Sullivan Woods said.

The development, which would be used to add housing units, comes after Gov. Maura Healey signed the Affordable Homes Act in 2024 and allowed for surplus state land to be used for the purpose of adding additional housing. The forest is included in the area determined as surplus. 

“I don’t think that the state should have the right to interfere with how this community decides how we build out our housing stock,” incumbent Tom Ulfelder said. “That property should not be the next target for the state.”

The League of Women Voters hosted the event, Meet the Candidates Night, ahead of the March 3 election. Susan Flicop moderated the conversations, which allowed all candidates, regardless of whether their race was contested, to give an opening and closing statement, as well as answer questions, selected and written by the League of Women Voters, related to their position. There are 11 total races, but only nine had candidates present. The audience was allowed to ask questions of the candidates of the two contested elections as time allowed. 

DEI Audit

 
When Flicop asked the candidates about a DEI equity audit that Town Meeting funded, Marc Charney, the current Planning Board chair who is running for Select Board for the first time, said he would use the results of it as a “governance tool” to inform how they interact, engage and communicate with the community. 

Sullivan Woods answered the question by highlighting the need for a strong community and neighborhoods to ensure that everyone feels engaged. She said she was “struck” by the fact that “only 39% of the community members feel that their voice is important to the government when we make policy decisions.” 

Ulfelder focused more on the employment aspect of DEI in his response, saying he supports “HR policies aimed at creating a diverse and welcoming work environment.”

ICE

 
After the moderated questions, an audience member, who described recently moving to Wellesley from Minneapolis, asked the candidates about their stance on signing an order to prevent Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers from using municipal properties. 

“I do not know whether we can prohibit federal officers from being on municipal land, because it’s public land, but we do everything possible to ensure the safety of every resident and member of this community,” Sullivan Woods said. 

In his response to the audience question, Ulfelder proposed an open meeting with community members and the police department, noting that “that conversation would go a long way” towards reassuring the community while still ensuring that the town is following state and federal regulations. 

Charney said he agreed, describing how he believes “working with our police department, having more dialogue with residents, particularly at this moment in time, would go a long way towards addressing fears and concerns that folks have,” while also acknowledging the limitations that come with state and federal laws. 

Schools

 
Four candidates running for two open seats on the School Committee also spoke at the library event — Bob Sullivan, Michael Robert Cave, Costas Panagopoulos and Ayla Lari. None are incumbents. 

Each of them said it was important to add air conditioning to the schools and prioritize student facing positions—acknowledging how the budget has continued to increase over the past few years while enrollment has fallen. 

“There should be equity across our elementary [schools] and across the school system in terms of the kinds of environments in which student learning occurs,” said Panagopoulos. “I would support policies and efforts that would ensure that we do have that kind of equity and that there are learning environments conducive to improving student learning.” 

An audience member asked the candidates about the growing number of administrators amid lower enrollment. 

The candidates also discussed the role of AI in education, particularly elementary education, and most were worried about how introducing that technology at such a young age could potentially be detrimental in the long run. 

Eight other candidates for uncontested races also spoke, introducing themselves and answering questions about their positions. 

“I want to do my part to understand the candidates,” Crosier said. “It was helpful to see them in person, because you can read a bio, you could read their comments, but actually being here in person and getting to know them a little bit more and how they respond to questions is helpful.”

Kelly McCoulf Norris, who has lived in Wellesley since 2020 and been a member of Town Meeting since 2021, said the schools and education system were also priorities and she was glad to see so much of the town involved with local government. 

“It’s great to have a lot of candidates running for those really two important boards,” she said. “I think that engagement in the town’s activities is really important. It’s one of the most important things for us in government to focus on.” 

• Meet the School Committee candidates
• Meet the 2026 Wellesley Select Board candidates

Wellesley’s March 3 election is less than two weeks away, and results of the contested Select Board race will significantly shape the town’s direction on capital spending, housing, and setting priorities.

Beth Sullivan Woods and Tom Ulfelder each seek their fourth three-year terms—Woods has a background in marketing research and strategic planning, while Ulfelder cites his experience as an attorney and in the healthcare industry. Challenging them is Marc Charney, who runs business restoring older homes, serves as Planning Board chair (Charney has told us he’d step down from Planning if elected to the Select Board).

We spoke to all three candidates this week, mainly on background, to confirm facts and get a sense of where the race stands. Last week we ran Select Board candidate introductions and Q&As, and The Wellesley News (the student-run publication at Wellesley College) followed suit this week with candidate profiles of its own.

Most Select Board votes over the past year have been 5-0, though when they’ve gone 3-2, Sullivan Woods and Kenny Largess have been the dissenters from Ulfelder, Chair Marjorie Freiman, and Colette Aufranc (examples in recent months included a vote to spend $75k on a consulting contract for a visioning study—that has since been put off—about the proposed MassBay Community College development and another regarding a traffic impact assessment study related to a proposed Walnut Street development).

Based upon positions Charney has taken while on the Planning Board and articulated during his Select Board campaign, there’s reason to believe a Select Board with him and Sullivan Woods, and without Ulfelder, would result in more 3-2 votes with Freiman and Aufranc in the minority. A likely scenario if Charney and Sullivan Woods were to be on the board would be that Sullivan Woods would ascend to chair, a position that has eluded her during nine years on the Select Board.

The candidates have shared their views and priorities throughout the campaign, which officially began in December when they pulled nomination papers. Though in reality, it started well before that.

Campaign signs have been dotting snow piles throughout the winter. Sometimes all three Select Board candidates signs can be seen in the same vicinity, while solo and double configurations can be spotted in other parts of town.

Candidates at election forums this month have largely kept their focus on past accomplishments and intended goals when sharing their platforms or answering questions about hot topics, such as possible housing development on state-owned land across from the MassBay campus. The formats of these forums, including one hosted by Sustainable Wellesley and another the next night by the League of Women Voters of Wellesley, were not set up to foster debate among candidates.

Ulfelder has touted his board leadership, including during the pandemic, in helping the town come out strong financially. He’s cited forward thinking in partnership with others on the board and from other departments to get ahead of big possible capital expenses down the road in light of rising property taxes. Sullivan Woods has emphasized her attention to the local business community, amplifying residents’ concerns, and striving for a more open town government process. Charney has pointed to his efforts through the Planning Board and RIO Task Force to address residents’ worries about multifamily developments in single-residence neighborhoods, and for a need to take a different approach on the proposed MassBay development. He’s also spoken of a need for more diversity of thought at the Select Board level.

The Charles River Regional Chamber does have an online “Wellesley Select Board Debate” slated for Feb. 27 and focused on economic development, housing, and the environment. That event could elicit more back and forth between the candidates, but is being held just a few days before the actual election. With roughly half of Wellesley voters in recent years having sent in their ballots by mail, it’s possible many will have already voted by the time that debate takes place.

More fiery stuff has surfaced outside of candidate events, as was on display at the Feb. 10 Select Board meeting (see Wellesley Media recording), during which Planning Chair Charney and RIO Task Force Chair Tom Taylor appeared for a discussion about Annual Town Meeting Article 32, on RIO Zoning Bylaw modifications. The Select Board during that meeting, by a 3-2 vote, rejected a motion to add a development agreement requirement to the mix. A reference to “political theatre” was made during discussion, which got tense at times.

Separately, we received a letter to the editor this month signed by eight former Select Board (or then Board of Selectmen) members challenging Charney’s suitability for the Select Board based on permitting violations that were the subject of public hearings in 2022. We considered whether to run the letter, but based on our editorial practice and following legal consultation, we have not. A member of one local planning advocacy group this week took us to task for this decision—and without first talking to us or checking facts—sent an email to the group’s subscribers about it.

The last day to register to vote for the annual town election is Friday Feb. 20 at 5pm.The last day to request a vote by mail ballot for the election is Tuesday Feb. 24 at 5pm.

Polls will be open 7am-8pm on Tuesday March 3. Check the town website for precinct and voting location information.