Town Leadership
The Selectboard’s Office
The Board Is the Executive
Wendell’s chief executives, and you elect them
When a gravel road washes out in Wendell, the response does not cross an administrator’s desk, because the town does not employ one. The town’s own selectboard page puts it plainly: the selectboard is the executive arm of the government. The three members Wendell elects, chaired now by Laurie DiDonato and joined by Paul Doud, do that executive work themselves. Massachusetts law and the town bylaws hand the board broad power: it sets policy, appoints residents to the town’s boards and committees, recommends the annual budget to Town Meeting, signs the warrant that decides what Town Meeting gets to vote on, and acts as the town’s licensing authority. Most towns this size hire a professional Town Administrator to carry the daily machinery. Wendell keeps that machinery in the hands of the people it elects, and pays a Town Coordinator, Kelly Tyler, to staff the office rather than run the town. That changes what an election here means: when you vote for a selectboard member, you are choosing a working executive, not someone to supervise a manager. The people who answer for the plowing and the budget sit at a public table at the Town Offices at 7 pm every other Wednesday, and one of the three seats is open right now, filled by a Special Election on September 1, 2026, which is about as literal an invitation to run your town as a ballot gets.
| Role | Select Board, the town’s chief executive and licensing authority |
|---|---|
| Selection | Three members elected town-wide to staggered three-year terms |
| Office | Wendell Town Offices, 9 Morse Village Road, Wendell, MA 01379 |
| Phone | 978-544-3395 ext. 0 |
| Website | wendellmass.us |
What the Selectboard’s Office Does
- Sets policy. The board acts as the town’s primary policy-making body on the whole range of issues that affect Wendell’s services and land.
- Builds the warrant. The board decides what reaches Town Meeting, signing the warrant for every Annual and Special Town Meeting.
- Recommends the budget. The board and the Finance Committee bring the annual budget to Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Appoints and licenses. The board appoints members to town boards and commissions and issues the town’s licenses.
- Answers to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in Wendell that means every registered voter who walks in.
A Town Run by Its Ballots
- The office staff: Town Coordinator Kelly Tyler runs the Selectboard’s office day to day, serving as liaison to the departments, preparing the meeting agendas and the Town Meeting and election warrants, and handling the board’s correspondence. The office does not hold executive authority; the elected board does.
- Many working offices are elected, not appointed. Wendell’s own ballot fills the Board of Assessors, the Board of Health, the Planning Board, the Cemetery Commission, the Library Trustees, the Municipal Light Board, the Road Commission, and the School Committee, plus the Town Clerk and the Town Moderator, so the executive branch here is a web of ballots, not one org chart.
- Appointed boards and commissions, from Conservation to the Historical Commission, are named by the Select Board and decide questions like wetlands protection and historic preservation.
Contact & Engage
- Town offices: 9 Morse Village Road, Wendell, MA 01379.
- Selectboard’s office: 978-544-3395 ext. 0, coordinator@wendellmass.us.
- Report a problem: potholes, washed-out gravel roads, and plowing go to the Highway Department, 978-544-3735.
- Show up: the board meets at 7 pm on Wednesday every two weeks at the Town Offices, and the public is welcome.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.