by Marty Green ·
Friday, March 20, 2026
With eight positions opening on Harvard’s town boards for the May 5 election, only seven candidates had taken out nomination papers by the March 13 deadline. Those seven are a mix of incumbents and new candidates, so—even if there are no contested races—some boards will have new faces after the election. And other candidates could emerge in the coming weeks with write-in campaigns.
Both candidates running for Select Board are incumbents—Kara Minar and Eric Ward, who won his seat in a special election last fall.
Ward was the first person to take out nomination papers for this year’s election. “Continuity in the group is important,” Ward said of the Select Board. “We’re just hitting our stride as a team.” In a telephone interview, he said he is particularly interested in finding ways to “help make the volunteer experience better,” and a first step in the process was the creation of the Harvard Volunteer Handbook now on the town website.
Also in a telephone interview, Minar said frankly she had not expected to run again. “But nobody else stepped forward. … And I didn’t want to leave my colleagues in the lurch.” There are a number of people interested in running for Select Board next year, she said, so she is not sure she will serve a full term. She also said there are projects she wants to see move ahead, such as the Complete Streets program to extend sidewalks in town center and the next steps in the Devens process. “The current board is a strong one,” she said, adding it has met many of the goals members set last year.
Abigail Besse, the current chair of the School Committee, is also running for another term. She wants to help with the transition to a new school superintendent and assistant superintendent, she said. She also spoke of the HVAC project for the Bromfield School: “I’ve been involved with that since the beginning, and I want to see it through.”
Elizabeth Nees, who is running for an open seat on the School Committee, has two children in Hildreth Elementary School. She has been active in the Parent Teacher Organization as well as serving on the HES School Council and volunteering in the classroom. Nees said she uses her experience as a pastor to help businesses and nonprofit organizations navigate through changes in leadership, yet still “stay rooted in their mission and vision.” She said she sees serving on the School Committee as “a good way to help this community that I love more and more.”
Gail Coolidge has served on the library’s board of trustees for 15 years and said she feels a sense of responsibility to the institution. She has focused on financial matters for the library and decided to run for another term in part to maintain continuity in that position.
Rebecca Miller Brown is running for an open seat on the library board. Brown spent many hours in libraries while earning her doctorate in classics. “I appreciate what libraries have to offer a town,” she said. She expects her emphasis will be on outreach and communication between the library and the wider community.
As the chair of the Warner Free Lecture trustees, Michael Kilian says he is ready for another term: “I’ve really enjoyed it!” The efforts of the current board have led to increased attendance at the lectures, he said, as well as success in obtaining grants. He pointed to the upcoming presentation by Bromfield students as another innovation aimed at widening the lecture audiences.
There is not yet a candidate for the other open seat on the Warner Free Lecture board. But Kilian is hopeful someone will come forward as a write-in candidate. Two current members of the board won their seats as write-in candidates.