by Marty Green ·
Friday, January 30, 2026
With the snow piled high outside, Harvard’s May 5 Town Election seems remote. However, nomination papers for the town’s four elective boards are already available from the town clerk. The terms for two members on each elective board—Select Board, School Committee, library trustees, and Warner Free Lecture trustees—will expire in June.
Candidates who want to be on the ballot must take out papers by noon Friday, March 13. The deadline to return the completed papers is Tuesday, March 31.
For the Select Board, Eric Ward was the first person to take out nomination papers for the 2026 election. Ward won his seat on the board in a special election last fall, filling out the term of Rich Maiore, who resigned last year.
The other Select Board member whose term expires this year is Kara Minar, who has served on the board since 2017. Asked whether she planned to run again, Minar said, “I’m not ready to say yet. I’ve enjoyed my time on the Select Board so far. I’ll make a decision in the next few weeks.”
The two School Committee members with expiring terms are Abby Besse and Amy Morton. Besse has served on the committee since 2020 and is currently its chair. She has not yet decided whether she will be a candidate for reelection in May. “I’m making a list of the pros and cons,” she said with a chuckle.
Morton joined the committee in 2023 and said she will not be running for a second term. “Like many people,” she wrote in an email, “I’m balancing increased responsibilities caring for an aging parent while also supporting my children, and with a potential new job on the horizon, I’m at a point where I can’t give this important role the time and attention it deserves.”
For the Harvard Public Library, Gail Coolidge has been a library trustee since 2011 and is the longest serving member of that board. She said she has not yet decided whether she will run again. Cary Browse, who has served for six years, said being president of the Fivesparks board of directors demands all her available time, so she will not run for the library board again. “I’ll miss it,” Browse said, “and it’s heartwarming that other people are interested in it.”
Michael Kilian, chair of the Warner Free Lecture trustees, said he will run for that board again. “We’ve done a great job getting grants and improving our financial state,” Kilian said. And he hopes to encourage more student involvement in the coming year. The other seat to be filled on the Warner Free Lecture board has been vacant for several months, since the death of Nancy Meyer last fall.