Westborough citizens’ academy aims to spur interest in town boards

Westborough recently completed its first-ever Citizen Leadership Academy, an initiative designed to develop future leaders in the community and encourage residents to volunteer for town boards and committees by giving them an overview of how the town is run.

Town Manager Jim Malloy brought the idea from Sturbridge, where he previously worked as the town administrator for 14 years, and where he encountered the same issue – a dearth of volunteers for important municipal posts.

“We typically have 15 vacancies at any point in time on various boards and committees and very few people volunteering,” Malloy said. “Or it’s the same people volunteering over and over again, and some serve on two or three boards or committees.”

Faced with vacancies and a small pool of volunteers, Malloy unearthed material for the academy he ran in Sturbridge and presented it to the Westborough Board of Selectmen, which endorsed the program.

Originally planned over a 10-week period, the program ultimately ran for 12 weeks after the school department asked to run sessions for participants as well. Every Wednesday evening from the first week of November through the first week of February, the program offered residents a 90-minute course covering a particular aspect of town government, from public safety and cultural services to town finances and planning.

The finance session, for example, included presentations from the town accountant, treasurer and chief assessor. Residents learned about procurement and expenditures, property valuation, and billing.

At the program’s final meeting, volunteer forms were distributed to participants.

Twelve residents initially signed up for the program, though just six or seven remained by the last meeting, Malloy acknowledged. But the town has already filled some of its vacancies.

“One actually ran for the Library Board of Trustees,” he said. “Another participant, we have a tot lot we’re trying to put together, so she’s on the tot lot committee. Another gentleman is now on the Board of Health, too.

“And one other guy, they were all pressuring him to sign up for something,” he said with a chuckle, “so we haven’t seen it yet but we’re expecting it soon.”

The most important aspect of putting together a successful program was getting the individual department heads on board, Malloy said.

“What I found was the department heads enjoyed it as much as the participants,” he said. “So often everyone does their job … and they often don’t get to talk about what they do when they’re not asking for anything. I think it’s refreshing for them to do it.

“Getting department heads engaged is key. Once they’re engaged, the residents really get engaged and ask a lot of questions.”