by Marty Green ·
Friday, December 19, 2025
The Select Board has approved its own representatives to a nine-member committee that will consider what changes might be needed in the Harvard Town Charter when it comes up for renewal after 10 years in use. The Select Board’s vote at its Dec. 16 meeting finalized the full list of members for the Charter Review Committee.
The charter empowers the Select Board, the School Committee, the Finance Committee, and the town moderator to name members of the review committee. Members of those boards themselves are eligible to serve, and the Select Board received seven applications from other volunteers.
The Select Board is entitled to name five members of the Charter Review Committee, only two of whom can be current board members. Eric Ward and SusanMary Redinger volunteered to serve on the committee for those two positions. For their remaining three positions, the Select Board chose from among the volunteers who had submitted applications. The board named Bruce Leicher, Shannon Molloy, and Stu Sklar. Leicher has chaired the Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Committee since 2002. Sklar formerly served on the School Committee and the Select Board and currently chairs the Community Preservation Committee. Molloy served two terms on the School Committee, ending in 2024.
After the vote, Select Board member Eve Wittenberg said, “I want to express my gratitude to everyone who has volunteered. This is not a trivial task—it is a years’ long commitment.”
Earlier the same day, the Finance Committee had voted on its two appointees to the Charter Review Committee. Current FinCom member Adam Meier volunteered; he previously served on the town’s Climate Initiative Committee. As their second appointee, FinCom members chose Paul Cohen, who chaired the original Charter Commission, was formerly Harvard’s town administrator, and is now town manager in Chelmsford.
The School Committee is entitled to name one member of the review committee. Several weeks ago, its members chose Abigail Besse, longtime member and current chair, as the School Committee representative.
Town Moderator Bill Barton is also entitled to name one review committee member, and he chose Pablo Carbonell, who had submitted a volunteer application. Carbonell has served on the town’s Permanent Building Committee and on the Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management Committee.
The Harvard Town Charter is approaching its eighth birthday, counting from its adoption by Annual Town Meeting in May 2018. Given that the original Charter Commission began its work in 2016, the review process is expected to be long and careful. Town Administrator Dan Nason told the Select Board he is thinking about the number of meetings that will be needed and how to schedule them. It is also possible that the Charter Review Committee, like the original commission, may need to hire a clerk to keep records.