Town Government
Westwood Select Board
About the Board
Three people. That is the entire Westwood Select Board, and every voter in town helps choose all three. Each serves a three-year term on an overlapping schedule, so one seat normally comes up each April and a single election can change a third of the board. The board sets town policy, signs the warrants that decide what Town Meeting gets to vote on, appoints residents to many town boards, and hires and supervises the Town Administrator who runs the town day to day. When a daily problem becomes town policy, this is the room where it happens, and it is a room with three chairs in it.
- Sets policy and direction for the whole town.
- Hires the Town Administrator and holds the Administrator accountable.
- Controls the warrant, deciding what business reaches Town Meeting for a vote.
- Appoints residents to most of the town’s boards and commissions.
Board Members
All three members are elected town-wide. After each annual town election the board reorganizes and chooses its own officers, and Westwood names three: a Chair, a Clerk, and a Third Member. Joseph E. Previtera won the three-year seat on April 28, 2026 with 1,781 votes, and Erin Sibley won the one-year seat left by a vacancy with 1,808.
Marianne C. LeBlanc Cummings
Erin O. Sibley
Joseph E. Previtera
The town routes contact to board members through the Select Board office at 580 High Street, which can be reached at 781-326-4172, and mail to the whole board goes to bos@townhall.westwood.ma.us. The roster is posted at townhall.westwood.ma.us.
What a Three Member Board Means for You
A board this small changes the arithmetic of showing up. Two votes carry any decision, so when the board split 2 to 1 on July 20, 2026 over who should be Westwood’s next Chief of Police, that one vote settled it. It also means the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law bites early: any two of the three talking about town business outside a posted meeting would be a quorum, so the conversation you want to hear has to happen in public, on an agenda, with you allowed in the room.
Meetings & How to Participate
- When: most Monday evenings, in person at Town Hall, 580 High Street, and online. The town posts each agenda in advance.
- Agendas & minutes: posted on the town’s meeting portal, linked from the Select Board page at townhall.westwood.ma.us.
- Public comment: the board adopted a public comment policy in 2026. Check the agenda for the procedure.
- Watch: the Westwood Media Center carries town meetings on its government channel.
- Town Meeting: for the budget and bylaws, the deciding vote belongs to the registered voters in the hall, which can include you.
Public hearings and meetings are where residents shape town decisions.