To the editor:

We are very fortunate, as Wellesley residents, to have Beth Sullivan Woods, who personifies genuine leadership, running for re-election to the Select Board. Beth has a rare combination of a truly independent voice, compassion for the community, and
sound decision making.

With the constantly changing political landscape at all levels of government, Beth has found a way, over the years, to keep a refreshing independence to her thinking and decision making. She comes to all matters with intellectual curiosity and open-
mindedness, thus allowing her to approach each situation with a true sense of impartiality.

As a lifetime resident of Wellesley, Beth consistently engages citizens, business owners, and members of the Wellesley community. Her strong ability to listen, and, in turn, understand the needs of her constituents prior to making tough decisions is a unique
skill that demonstrates her excellent emotional intelligence.

There is no question that Beth has the experience necessary to do this job. As a member of the Select Board since 2017, she has evaluated and advanced a multitude of important projects and issues. The overwhelming sentiment voiced by many citizens
is that Beth is always thoughtful, fair, and pragmatic when it comes to community concerns.

Please consider voting for Beth Sullivan Woods.

Sincerely,
Lynn and Doug Youngen

To the editor:

I enthusiastically support Tom Ulfelder for re-election to the Wellesley Select Board and ask voters to join me in voting for him in the Town Election on March 3. Tom and I served together on the Select Board for six years, from 2019 to 2025, and I worked particularly closely with him when we each served as Chair and Vice Chair.

Tom provides a strong hand in overseeing the development of the Town’s $225 million annual budget, bringing the understanding and insights that only experience can provide. He has also served for many years as the Select Board liaison to the Permanent Building Committee, which oversees all the Town’s major construction projects. With more than $400 million in currently
proposed capital projects, the Town needs Tom’s exceptional knowledge and judgment as these projects are evaluated, prioritized, and developed.

In addition to his extraordinary experience, Tom has three qualities that differentiate him as a candidate:

 Tom is fair-minded. He takes a balanced approach to challenging issues and listens thoughtfully and openly to all perspectives. He makes a deliberate effort to seek out community members on various sides of an issue to understand their thinking before making a final determination.

 Tom is dedicated. He serves with steadfast commitment and always seeks to protect the interests of the taxpayers while also maintaining the Town’s high standard of municipal services.

 Tom is an experienced leader. He has the respect of his colleagues, having been elected Select Board Chair twice and Vice Chair three times during his board terms. Tom also works collaboratively with Town staff, providing appropriate guidance and policy direction while being respectful of the staff’s professional expertise and allowing them to get the job done.

Voting for Tom on March 3 is a strong vote for Wellesley and its future.

Sincerely,
Lise Olney
Town Meeting Member, Precinct E
Chair, Town of Wellesley Climate Action Committee
Past Select Board Chair and Vice Chair

To the editor:

My name is Costas Panagopoulos, and I am proud to announce my candidacy for the Wellesley School Committee. Our family moved to Wellesley 9 years ago. Our son George is in the 1st grade at Hardy Elementary School. We love our town, and we love our schools. I believe the public schools are the heart and soul of our community. Like many families, we moved here largely because of the excellence of the Wellesley public school system. We didn’t know what to expect when we moved here, but what we have found is a welcoming and inclusive community that has embraced our family in ways we could not have imagined. From the very beginning, it
has felt like home.

I have been passionate about education my entire life. My parents emigrated from Greece with only third grade educations. They instilled in me an appreciation for education that endures to this day. I am the product of the Massachusetts public school system, and I am indebted to it. I graduated from Dracut High School which prepared me to go to Harvard as an undergraduate where I completed my BA in Government magna cum laude.

I now work as an educator at Northeastern University where I am Distinguished Professor of Political Science. I was Chair of the Political Science department at Northeastern for 5 years, where I supervised nearly 30 faculty members and oversaw an annual budget of $4.5 million.

I am also dedicated to serving the Commonwealth in other ways. In 2020, Governor Baker appointed me to serve on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority. The Board oversees an annual operating budget of over $18 million and we manage loans and assets of nearly $12 billion. I am proud of my work on this board because our primary goal is to help to make college educations accessible and affordable for Massachusetts families.

These experiences may qualify me to serve effectively on the School Committee, but the strongest qualification—and perhaps the most important reason I am interested in this position—is because I am a parent whose experience with the Wellesley Public School system has been life changing. Our son has benefitted directly from the expertise and tireless commitment of extraordinary teachers, administrators and staff in the Wellesley public school system, first at the PAWS preschool program, then at Sprague Elementary and now at Hardy. We are so grateful to the Town of Wellesley and to the public school program.

I am running to keep our school system strong and flourishing. I want to empower teachers, administrators, staff and students—families—to succeed. I pledge to support policies to strengthen our schools and to make them better than ever. I will fight for high standards and academic excellence. I will fight for accountability, transparency and sustainability. And I will fight for fiscal responsibility. I will fight for you and your families. My approach is data-driven, collaborative and results-oriented. I believe strong schools are built when families, teachers and administrators work together with trust and shared purpose.

Over the course of this campaign, I have met with so many Wellesley families, students and town leaders. I am so grateful for their willingness to share their views about our school system and ideas about our how to make them stronger. I am listening. And if elected, I pledge to always do so and to represent our community in a thoughtful and responsible way. Without exception, these individuals clearly share my love for our town and our public schools, and they are committed to ensuring our schools and our children continue to thrive. They support investing in education and in our future and putting sound and sustainable policies in place that deliver results and strong outcomes. I invite you to reach out to share your thoughts or to support our campaign at electcostas.com.

I believe strong schools are built when families, teachers and administrators work together with trust and shared purpose.

I ask for your support.

Thank you

Costas Panagopoulos
Wellesley School Committee candidate

To the editor:

We are writing to express our enthusiastic support for Costas Panagopoulos for Wellesley School Committee.

As parents of two young sons in Wellesley Public Schools, Ezra and I trust in Costas’s investment in our district. We moved our family to Wellesley in large part because of its excellent public schools, which are the heart of our wonderful community. Costas will ensure our schools not only remain strong, but in fact improve for the betterment of every student. I am thrilled to serve as his campaign manager because I am confident that he brings exactly the combination of expertise, commitment, and collaborative spirit our schools need right now.

Costas’s qualifications are exceptional. As Distinguished Professor and former department chair at Northeastern University, he understands how to manage complex organizations, oversee substantial budgets, and foster excellence. His appointment by Governor Baker to the Massachusetts Education Financing Authority Board—where he oversees $18 million in annual operations and manages $12 billion in assets—demonstrates his financial acumen and commitment to making education accessible and affordable for Massachusetts families.

But what truly sets Costas apart is his personal investment in our schools. As the son of Greek immigrants who had only third-grade educations, he understands viscerally the transformative power of public education. He is a proud product of Massachusetts public schools himself, having graduated from Dracut High School before attending Harvard. Now, as the father of a first-grader at Hardy Elementary, he experiences our schools as a parent every single day.

Costas’s approach is data-driven, collaborative, and results-oriented—exactly what we need as we navigate budget constraints while maintaining excellence. He will fight for high standards, transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility. Most importantly, he will empower teachers, administrators, and families to work together with the trust and shared purpose that strong schools require.

We hope you’ll join us in supporting Costas on March 3.

Wendy Englebardt, Campaign Manager, electcostas.com
Ezra Englebardt, Town Meeting Member, Precinct H; Chair, Wellesley Trails Committee Wellesley

To the editor,

As my term on the Wellesley School Committee comes to a close, I want to thank the Wellesley community for the trust, partnership, and support you have shown throughout my service. It has been an honor to work on behalf of our students, families, and educators.

With two seats open in the March 3rd election, I am proud to endorse Costas Panagopoulos and Ayla Lari for School Committee.

Costas Panagopoulos brings a goal-oriented, data-driven approach that is essential to advancing both excellence and equity in our schools. As a distinguished professor, a graduate of Massachusetts public schools, and a Wellesley parent, he understands both the promise of public education and the responsibility we share to strengthen it. His commitment to evidence-based decision making, collaboration, and accountability reflects the kind of leadership our district needs at this pivotal time.

I am also proud to support Ayla Lari, whose candidacy is grounded in closing the gap between what we promise and what we deliver to students and families. Ayla understands that strong values must be matched by effective policy, thoughtful oversight, and honest evaluation of outcomes. Her policy expertise, deep belief in public education, and long-standing connection to Wellesley position her to ensure that our priorities translate into meaningful, day-to-day impact for all students.

Wellesley’s schools are strongest when leadership is thoughtful, transparent, and focused on results. Costas Panagopoulos and Ayla Lari embody those qualities, and I strongly encourage our community to support them in the upcoming election.

Thank you again to the Wellesley community for the opportunity to serve.

Sincerely,

To the editor:

Now that Housing Secretary Ed Augustus has confirmed the Commonwealth’s willingness to preserve 40 acres of forest adjacent to the MassBay campus, it’s time for Wellesley’s Select Board to reconsider its threatened lawsuit and reschedule the visioning session it cancelled back in December.

For months, residents have expressed concern that the state intended to develop the wooded parcel. But Augustus told the Boston Globe this week that the state is willing to place the woods under a long-term conservation restriction and are seeking housing only on a 5-acre parking lot on Oakland Street.

“To us, that’s a win-win-win proposition,” Augustus said. “We get the housing that we need as a state and they as a community need. They get to protect this forested area which … is not protected now. And the college gets the revenue that comes from the sale of the property that helps advance some of their goals and strategic plans.”

Litigation would be costly, divisive and likely to delay the creation of much-needed housing identified in the town’s 2025 Strategic Housing Plan. It would also risk undermining a potential agreement that could both protect open space and support MassBay’s future.

Rescheduling the planned visioning session would create an opportunity for a community-wide conversation about the look, feel and type of housing.  It would also allow for a discussion of traffic mitigation and other concerns that have been overshadowed by the no-longer-a-concern forest discussion.

With a workable compromise in sight, the responsible course is to pursue it rather than escalate conflict. Saving the MassBay Forest was always the community’s top priority. The forest has been saved! Now it’s time to close this chapter, come together and move forward in a spirit of cooperation that reflects the very best of Wellesley.

Sincerely,
Greg Reibman
Charles River Chamber, president & CEO