Wellesley Advisory Committee members

The Wellesley Advisory Committee is made up of fifteen residents, appointed by the Moderator. The term of appointment is three years, and roughly one-third of the membership turns over each year.

Advisory’s tasks

Being on Advisory is an essential part of Wellesley town governance. Being on Advisory can also be a time-consuming (and thankless) task. Here’s what members do:

• review all requests for annual operating and capital appropriations
• make recommendations to Town Meeting on all Warrant Articles presented to Town Meeting
• weigh in on all significant matters in town
• to learn much, much more, check out our 2022 post, What the heck is Wellesley’s Advisory Committee, anyway?

Ways to get appointed to Advisory

• recommendations by current or former elected officials
• recommendations by people who are active in town government, whether in appointed or elected positions
• recommendations by citizens who pay attention to down doings and who aren’t afraid to speak up

What helps (or hurts) your case in getting on Advisory

• your precinct
• age
• gender
• employment status and/or history
• general background/life experiences
• your kids
• time you’re able to give

There’s no right or wrong precinct, age, gender, etc. What Moderator Mark Kaplan looks to achieve is a Committee that isn’t stacked with members from any one particular profession (can’t have all lawyers); or one that is full of Fiske School families; or skewed heavily toward retirees. The town’s website  says, “Membership on the committee reflects a cross section of the Town’s residents.”

The Moderator and the Fifteen (updated Sept. 2023)