Reminder: Wellesley Town Meeting Warrant Closes on December 18

December 12, 2024 by admin Leave a Comment

From the Town of Wellesley:

Wellesley’s 2025 Annual Town Meeting is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at Wellesley Middle School.

The Town Meeting warrant is open and will close at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, December 18. Articles to be considered at Town Meeting must be submitted by this deadline.

Town Hall’s temporary location at 888 Worcester Street, Wellesley

Any citizens who wish to submit an article for the warrant must file a Citizen Petition with the Town Clerk’s office at 888 Worcester Street, Suite 140 on or before December 18. Please contact the Town Clerk for information about Citizen Petitions.

Run for Office in Wellesley
Nomination papers are still available for candidates who would like to run for a Town wide office or a Town Meeting member seat.

Pull papers at the Town Clerk’s office at 888 Worcester Street, Suite 140 until December 18. As of December 26, nomination papers will be available at the reopening Wellesley Town Hall building at 525 Washington Street.

Nomination papers must be returned by 5 p.m. on January 14, 2025.

Wellesley election 2025—League of Women Voters info session, “How to Run for Public Office”

November 27, 2024 by Deborah Brown

The League of Women Voters of Wellesley will hold an information session on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 7pm-8:30pm, in the Warren Building, 90 Washington St., for those interested learning more about running for Town Meeting or one of Wellesley’s Elected Boards.

Wellesley League of Women Voters. Left, Deb Codispoti, and Tanya Roy

Find out how Wellesley’s Town Government is structured and about the boards that make it up. Learn from Wellesley residents who have served our community about what it is like to be on Town Meeting or an Elected Board. The information session will also cover how to run a campaign and the timing for March 2025 election—nomination papers can be obtained in person from the Town Clerk December 4-January 10.

Wellesley functions thanks to dedicated citizen volunteers who run for Elected Boards (our Executive Branch) and Town Meeting (our Legislative Branch). The town’s 10 elected Boards oversee everything in town from schools, to the library, to public health, and 240 elected Town Meeting Members. Wellesley needs you! There are no special qualifications for serving in office. Some boards require members to be a registered voter, but any resident can run for Town Meeting.

For more information go the the LWVW website or email Lwvwellesley2@gmail.com. The information session will be available on Wellesley Media shortly after the event.

Keeping track of the dates

IMPORTANT: Wellesley Town Meeting Warrant is now open
SIGNIFICANT DATE/TIME: Wednesday, Dec. 18, 4pm. Town Meeting Warrant closes.
WHAT WILL BE ON THE WARRANT: It depends. Individual citizens or groups wishing to have an article included in the Warrant must submit a petition, signed by at least 10 registered Wellesley voters, to the Town Clerk prior to the closing of the Warrant. Contact the Town Clerk with questions.

Here are some examples of 2024 articles.

IMPORTANT: Nomination papers for a town-wide office candidates
DATE: Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, first day to obtain nomination papers for town-wide offices from the Town Clerk
DATE: Friday January 10, 2025, 5 pm, last day to obtain nomination papers for town-wide office
DATE: Tuesday January 14, 2025, 5 pm, Last day to return nomination papers for town-wide offices (50 signatures)

IMPORTANT: Nomination papers for Town Meeting members
DATE: Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, first day to obtain nomination papers for Town Meeting Member from the Town Clerk
DATE: Tuesday January 21, 2025 at 5 pm, last day for incumbent TMM to file notice of candidacy with Town Clerk
DATE: Friday January 24, 2025 at 5 pm, last day to obtain nomination papers for new TMM candidates
DATE: Tuesday January 28, 2025 at 5 pm, last day to return nomination papers for new TMM candidates (10 signatures in precinct)

EVENT: Wellesley’s 2025 Annual Town Election
DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 2025
TIME: Polls open 7am-8pm

EVENT: Town Meeting starts
DATE: April 1, 2025
TIME: 7pm
LOCATION: Wellesley Middle School, 50 Kingsbury St.

More important dates here.

More: About Wellesley Town Meeting

How Wellesley voted on Election Day

November 5, 2024 by admin

The town of Wellesley’s Clerk’s Office released unofficial results for the Presidential and State election on Tuesday night, showing an 85% turnout. About half of active registered voters had cast their ballots by mail or during the early voting period.

About 73% of votes cast in the Presidential election were for the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz ticket, while Donald Trump/JD Vance earned roughly 22%. All Wellesley precincts voted for Harris over Trump, but nationwide Trump defeated Harris, according to the Associated Press on Wednesday morning. About 100 more Wellesley residents voted for Trump this year vs. in 2020.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren outdistanced challenger John Deaton by a 63% to 34% margin in Wellesley and appeared to win handily across the state.

On the ballot questions, the unofficial results in Wellesley were:

Yes on 1 (State Auditor’s authority to audit the legislature)
No on 2 (Eliminate MCAS)
No on 3 (Unionization for Transportation Network Drivers)
No on 4 (Limited legalization and regulation of certain natural psychedelic substances)
No on 5 (Minimum wage for tipped workers)

State results for the ballot questions were Yes on 1, 2 and 3, and No on 4 and 5.

The Wellesley State and Presidential Election Unofficial Results are available online here. The results include all ballots cast during advanced processing and at the polls on November 5, 2024. All ballots received after 5:00 PM on November 5th to Town Hall and/or postmarked by November 5th and received later , will be counted and added no later than November 20th.

Early in-person voting begins Oct. 19 at the Wellesley Free Library

October 18, 2024 by admin

Early voting in-person for the State/Presidential Election begins on Saturday, October 19 and runs for two weeks, through Friday, November 1.

Early in-person voting will occur on the following days at Wellesley Free Library, 530 Washington Street.

Saturday October 19, 9am-3pm
Monday through Friday October 21-25, 10am-2pm
Saturday October 26, 9am-5pm
Monday through Friday October 28 through November 1, 9am-5pm

Early in-person voting will also be available to the public at the following locations and dates:

Marillac Residence, 125 Oakland Street, Tuesday October 29, 2pm-4pm
Waterstone, 27 Washington Street, Wednesday October 30, 6pm-8pm

Registered voters are welcome to vote either by mail, early in person, or on election day at the polls. Voters may vote only once. The first ballot cast will be considered final.

As allowed, all early voting in-person ballots will be processed either during advanced processing or at the polls on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, 2024.

Registered voters may vote either by mail, early in-person or on election day at the polls. Voters may vote only once. The first ballot cast will be considered final.

Wellesley votes today (Tuesday, Sept. 3) in State Primary election

September 3, 2024 by Deborah Brown

The Massachusetts Primary Election will take place today, Tuesday, September 3, 2024.

How to vote in-person, at the polls

Polls will be open 7am-8pm on Tuesday September 3, 2024
Some of the polling locations have CHANGED. See Map.
- Precincts A & C: Upham Elementary School, 35 Wynnewood Road *** NEW LOCATION
- Precinct B: Sprague Elementary School, 401 School Street
- Precincts D & E: Warren Building, 90 Washington Street
- Precincts F & G: Shipley Center, Dana Hall School, 142 Grove Street
- Precinct H: Tolles Parsons Center, Council on Aging, 500 Washington Street

Vote by Mail ballots

State Primary ballots were mailed to all voters who requested to Vote by Mail.

Completed Vote by Mail ballots are due no later than 8pm on Primary Day, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. At this point, do not try to send your Vote by Mail ballot via the United States Postal Service, as it will not be delivered by the Tuesday, Sept. 23, 8pm deadline.You may drop off your Vote by Mail ballot in person at the Town Clerk’s Office, temporarily located at 888 Worcester Street, Suite 140, or deliver it to the payment drop box at the Wellesley Police Department (485 Washington Street).

What’s on your ballot, where to vote

To see what is on your ballot and where to vote, go to this accessible link.

The ballots for Wellesley Precincts A-D, G and H – 5th Congressional District and Precincts E and F – 4th Congressional District vary, however, the precincts have the same three contested races for the Democratic Party and the same one contested race for the Republican Party. There are no candidates listed on the Libertarian Party ballot, and therefore no contested races for that party.

Democratic Party Ballot
Three contested races for all precincts:

Councillor—vote for one

Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney
Mara Dolan

Clerk of Courts—vote for one

Robert L. Jubinville
Walter F. Timilty

Register of Deeds

William Patrick O’Donnell
Noel DiBona

Republican Party Ballot
One contested race for all precincts

Senator in Congress

Robert J. Antonellis
Ian Cain
John Deaton

Libertarian Party Ballot
No contested races

More election information here.

Online forum for Norfolk County Register of Deeds primary candidates set for Aug. 15

August 13, 2024 by admin

Both candidates for the Norfolk County Register of Deeds are scheduled to take part in an online forum on Thursday, Aug. 15 at 4pm and can be viewed live on the Needham Media Channel (a recording will be made available later at Wellesley Media).

The forum is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Needham, Brookline, Dover-Sherborn, Norwood, Sharon-Stoughton, Wellesley, and Westwood-Walpole-Dedham.

Both candidates for the office are Democrats: Incumbent Bill O’Donnell and challenger Noel DiBona.

The Registry of Deeds is the principal office for real property records in Norfolk County.

The forum will be conducted on Zoom according to League of Women Voters guidelines. After opening statements, a League moderator will ask candidates questions, followed by
closing statements.

Visit the League of Women Voters of Wellesley website for its voter guide. The League is a nonpartisan organization that provides information for voters.

Secretary of State’s voter registration site.

Subscribe to Swellesley‘s weekday email newsletter

Register of Deeds holds Wellesley office hours, clears up our self-manufactured drama

June 21, 2024 by Deborah Brown

As part of the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds Community Outreach Program, William P. O’Donnell, Register of Deeds for Norfolk County, came to town along with his colleagues Second Assistant Register of Deeds Ed Wheeler, and Director of Support Services Jonathan Thomas.

The three set up a command center of sorts in the Kingsbury Room of the Wellesley Police Station. They’d brought computers and a printer, as well as brochures and folders full of informational papers.

Their goal: to assist residents with any questions or concerns regarding real property records or land documents. The team stood ready to provide information about the Massachusetts Homestead Act; the status of mortgage discharges; print-outs of deeds; and to demonstrate how the Registry’s on-line Land Records Database works.

Massachusetts is divided into 21 registry districts, each with an elected Register of Deeds. The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds serves Wellesley, along with 27 other communities.

But it’s all about me

I showed up not just to cover office hours, but to straighten out a longtime document concern. It was about my Declaration of Homestead.

A Declaration of Homestead is a written legal document that allows homeowners to protect their family home from certain creditors, up to a particular amount. Massachusetts state law provides for an Automatic Homestead on all principal residences, protecting the home to the extent of $125,000.

According to the state website, “While this automatic protection may be sufficient to protect a deposit made upon your estate, it’s not likely enough coverage to protect the full value of your home. To protect the value of your property up $500,000 per residence, per family, you must file a document called a “Declaration of Homestead”.

Upon the advice of our attorney, we did just that soon after buying our house. I guess Bob and I didn’t bother applying our professional editors’ skills to our private life, because it was years before we noticed the document’s typos. So for a long time, I’ve been deeply uneasy about my Declaration of Homestead paperwork.

First off, I didn’t like that the zip code had been left off the Declaration document, then “corrected” by hand—to the wrong zip code. There was also the matter of our street name being legally changed at some point. The name was merely tweaked, but still, my Declaration didn’t reflect the change. The upshot—this important paperwork contains two facts that aren’t, strictly speaking, facts. The warning bells in my head were loud. Not loud enough to get me down to the Norfolk Registry of Deeds in Dedham, mind you. But if the Registry is going to come all the way to Wellesley to pay a call on me then sure, I was ready to air my concerns.

Over the years I had visions of being hauled into court by some smug plaintiff who somehow discovered my Declaration’s dark secret. He’s trying to squeeze $500k out of me, and he looks confident. His lawyer asks, “Well, Mrs. Brown is this your true zip code? Is this your true street name?” Because I must tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I’m forced to admit the zip code and street name are but lies. The judge can see that I’m getting screwed on a technicality, but her hands are tied. The judge finds in favor of the plaintiff. I weep as I transfer a massive settlement number to my enemy’s bank account.

Not a thing, Second Assistant Register Ed Wheeler assured me, looking up from his computer. If the title number has been registered in the Norfolk Registry District of the Land Court, and the title number is correct on the Declaration of Homestead, I could retire my manufactured drama. Wheeler found that the number was, indeed, registered and correct, leaving me free to invent other concerns.

The digital age

Moving records into the digital age is what O’Donnell is most proud of as Register of Deeds. In 2015, the Registry started working with Xerox Services to take over 250,000 hand-written deeds from 1793 to 1900, scan them, and transcribe them. Once they got up to the year 1900, it was on to the next century. The transcription process was taken on to ensure that historical records will be legible to future generations, and the information on them will be read correctly.

The mission of the Registry of Deeds is the same as it was in 1793—to record, preserve and provide access to real property records and land documents. “But we deliver the services in a more modern way now,” O’Donnell said. “It didn’t happen overnight, but all our records back to 1793 are online. I remember back in 2002 when we didn’t even have email at the Registry.”

Please support your local news source, The Swellesley Report

An election year

O’Donnell has been Register of Deeds since 2002, and has gotten the thumbs up from voters four times, unopposed during each 6-year election cycle except for 2004. And now in the upcoming 2024 election. On Sept. 3, the Norwood resident will face Quincy Councilor-At-Large Noel DiBona, who last month announced his candidacy for Norfolk County Register of Deeds. The election will take place during the Democratic Primary.

O’Donnell isn’t taking his winning record for granted. “I was outside at Wellesley Town Meeting in March getting signatures,” he said.

Watch out for money-making schemes

Don’t ever let any outside company “search” your deed for you and provide you with an official copy for a mere $75 (or more). Although not illegal for companies to do this, it’s a total waste of your money, and feels a little scam-like.

The Registry of Deeds has particular scorn for a California company that for the past several years has been aggressively preying on unsuspecting homeowners by sending a direct mail solicitation asking them to send a check for $112 in order to receive a copy of their deed.

“If a consumer knew that they could print a non-certified copy of their deed for free from our website www.norfolkdeeds.org or obtain a certified copy of their deed for a charge of only $1 per page plus an additional $1 for postage, they would never agree to pay such an outrageous fee for service. The average price for a mailed homeowner’s certified deed copy by the Registry (usually two pages) is $3,” O’Donnell said.

The Registry office asks that if you receive such a deed solicitation notice, contact the Registry’s Customer Service Center at (781) 461-6101 or by email at registerodonnell@norfolkdeeds.org.

General information

[Read more…]