After 12 Years, Wayland Town Moderator Stepping Aside

WAYLAND, MA — For the first time in a long time, Town Moderator Dennis Berry's name won't be on the triennial ballot this year.

After four terms, Berry said Friday he won't run for reelection this year. He called the decision a self-imposed term limit, adding that he's leaving a role in town he loves.

Berry was first elected as moderator in 2011, taking over the role held since the early 1980s by C. Peter Gossels — a large figure in Wayland government who pioneered electronic voting, served as town counsel and is the namesake of a local good-government award.

The town moderator seat will appear on the April 25 ballot with spring Town Meeting coming just a few days later on May 1.

Here's the letter Berry released Friday announcing his decision not to run in 2023:

As the local political season gets underway, those of us with a civic bent begin to consider such things as the development of articles, local elections, and potential candidacies. All of which are steps leading up to the town elections and Town Meeting. It's an exciting time, particularly for those of us directly involved.

Next year I will surely miss that excitement.

I have made the decision that I will not seek reelection for another term as Moderator. This has been a difficult decision but in the end is based on only one factor: tenure of office. There are no subplots or hidden meanings. To quote the words of the late mayor of Boston when he made a similar decision, I am walking away from a job I love.

While I do not believe in mandatory term limitations, I have long had a personal belief that in local government a person should spend no more than three consecutive terms in any one office. This voluntary term limitation is a self-imposed precept that I inflict on no one else.

I am now completing my fourth term as your moderator. I justified in my mind seeking reelection in 2020 because of the events of the 2018 Town Meeting. At that meeting I made the decision to retake what I felt was a flawed vote. That decision led to significant disruption during which I was personally attacked and accused of incompetence by a small but vocal group. As a result of those attacks, I felt I needed to put myself forward for a fourth term. I needed to find out whether the accusations made against me were upheld by the voters. I felt the voters spoke when I was reelected without opposition.

I do believe that I have served the town and that I would likely be reelected. Furthermore, to say it again, I still love the job, and remain enthusiastic about the role of moderator and the whole town meeting process. Hence, my difficulty with this decision.

But, if you think about it, isn't it the perfect time to leave local office, while you still love and are enthusiastic about your role. Local unpaid part-time town office is not like Beacon Hill or Capitol Hill. Local office is not meant for long term incumbencies like those other venues. In those other positions, tenure of office becomes the key to chairmanships, and power. In local government years in office, while often essential to bring important experience and maintain continuity, do not and should not hold the same “perks.”

Local government is refreshed when new faces come forward to serve. In Wayland we are fortunate to have an incredible number of highly talented people who could serve our local government well and perhaps bring some new ideas and approaches to old problems. Incumbents stepping aside from time to time is a healthy way to open up these seats in order to tap into that well spring of talent.

I would certainly hope, and to the extent I can, demand, that any successor loves Town Meeting and its role in our governmental process as much as I do. Specific issues of interest to me, that I likewise hope any candidate would support, include the separation of powers and checks and balances that I spoke about last year and the further development of remote participation at Town Meeting.

In closing, let me thank all who have over the years been to Town Meeting, all town officials with whom I have served, the members of the Public Ceremonies and ELVIS committees who I appointed, and all those who in any manner participate in our local government process.

I reiterate that I still love town meeting, have loved being moderator and am enthusiastically looking forward to the Meeting this May. But to my own self I must be true, and the time has come to step aside.

Sincere best wishes,

Dennis J. Berry
Moderator