Select Board member Tricia Wurts knows the value of listening to citizens’ input. 

In order to learn more about what the public would like to see from the Redevelopment Authority’s urban renewal plans, and how the town should communicate them, Wurts interviewed 60 Wareham residents. They told her they wanted grocery stores, bookstores, boutiques and galleries, and for downtown’s design to resemble a traditional Cape Cod village. Wurts said the answers were diverse, but asking the questions was the important part. 

“I think of our citizens as our customers,” Wurts said. 

If she is reelected to the Select Board on Tuesday, May 2, Wurts plans to continue communicating with citizens and helping them get involved in local affairs.

She wants Wareham to be a thriving community that offers opportunities to people of all ages. 

“What kind of jobs can we bring in for… people getting out of college, for people on their first or second job?” She said. “[The younger] population is going to be the foundation.”

She said that the town must consider how future projects, such as the proposed rezoning of Main Street, will affect not only the neighborhood they take place in, but the population at large. Wurts referenced the construction of solar fields as an example of the town not taking residents’ concerns into consideration enough. 

“We have to make decisions that are good for the citizens,” she said, “as well as good for the financial health of the town.”

Prior to working in town government, Wurts was a technology consultant for over twenty years, helping clients develop a vision for their companies’ futures. Some of her clients included IBM, AT&T and Xerox. 

Wurts previously took over for outgoing Select Board member Peter Teitelbaum last May, serving out the remainder of his term.

Her first Select Board campaign was in 2021. She ran a write-in campaign, but still managed to get nearly a third of the vote.  

When Wurts first joined the Select Board last May, she had no intention of running again. However, she slowly began to gain knowledge — and enjoyment — from working in town government and helping to create change in the community.

“I’m just now feeling like I can ski, [that] I can drive at 80 miles an hour now,” Wurts said, using analogies to describe becoming more adept as a Select Board member.