Two seats out of five (three-year terms)
The Wellesley Natural Resources Commission oversees the use, preservation and protection of the town’s parks and conservation areas, serves as tree warden, sets policies for insect control and pesticide use, and protects the town watershed areas. The Commission also appoints the Wetlands Protection Committee and Trails Committee.
Q1. What is your track record on environmental sustainability, including any related interests, experience, or initiatives?
A1.
Bea Bezmalinovic -
My commitment to environmental sustainability started more than a decade ago as part of a personal endeavor to reduce our family’s environmental footprint. In that process, I discovered and benefitted from all the ways in which the Town of Wellesley, community organizations and concerned residents have made it easier to reduce, reuse, and recycle. I began to extend my commitment to environmental sustainability into my volunteer work with Wellesley public schools and a local garden club. As part of my community engagement, I became particularly interested in creating more sustainable natural landscapes that are pollinator-friendly, pesticide free and water-efficient. I have been actively working with the NRC, garden clubs, and neighboring pollinator alliances to launch a similar initiative in Wellesley.
Laura Robert -
I am a thirty-year resident and mother of two Wellesley Public School graduates. My career is in financial services. My experience includes leading a grassroots effort to better protect Wellesley’s water wells and drinking water when confronted with a building development. The collaboration was successful and led to a more environmentally sensitive site solution. Having gained appreciation for our Town government processes, I sought new opportunities to take action to protect our commons, climate and public health. I am an eight-year Town Meeting Member, Natural Resources Commissioner and Trails Committee Member. My initiatives come to life in collaboration with others who also wish to make conservation and development projects better and more sustainable. My experience includes my participation in policy and decision making as a Natural Resources Commissioner as well as my active involvement in environmental advocacy, public engagement, and transparent, inclusive processes concerning our natural assets, open space values, and climate resiliency in a nearly built-out community. My philosophy is simple: take care of our natural assets and they will take care of us.
Q2. What do you think the priorities of the NRC should be for the three years of your prospective term?
A2
Bea Bezmalinovic -
I support the NRC in prioritizing the cultivation of more sustainable and climate resilient public and private landscapes. As part of a participatory planning process undertaken between 2019-2020, the NRC, town representatives and citizens identified four areas in which changing climate is taking shape in Wellesley: intense storms, flooding, heat waves, and drought. These conversations led to the recently completed Municipality Vulnerability Preparedness Program, which creates action implementation blueprints for Town staff and boards to address or reduce the effects of climate change. In this plan, the NRC will champion a program to engage residents, businesses, and partners to create support for implementing sustainable landscape design, installation and maintenance. I believe the NRC plays an important role in educating residents and changing the definition of what a landscape should be. Within this action plan, I will support a wide range of initiatives from pollinator corridors to tree protection. At the same time, I believe we need to balance protection with the residents’ enjoyment and use of our parks and forests so that we can instill an appreciation of the natural world in the next generation of environmental stewards.
Laura Robert-
Priorities for the next three years are guided by our Mission and Open Space and Recreation Plan in collaboration with Wellesley’s Unified Plan and many other Town departments and boards. Goals are re-evaluated annually and the pandemic is a perfect example of how we might pivot thoughtfully when necessary.
Priorities include education and action in the following areas:
· Natural assets that are significant by size and location
· Unprotected open space - privately owned open space exceeds 1,000 acres and is not protected from development.
· Watershed protection in Wellesley and on a regional scale
· Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness - to better prepare for the risks of climate change
· Tree canopy and legacy trees
· Plants and wildlife
· Passive and active recreation
· Connectivity of open spaces and trails to reduce automobile dependency
Q3. As you know, Town Meeting passed the Select Board’s Resolution to Address the Impact of Climate Change in October 2020. How do you envision this resolution being carried out by the Natural Resources Commission in the months ahead?
A3
Bea Bezmalinovic -
If you ask Wellesley residents about their favorite places in town, many will mention a favorite trail, park or playground. These spaces are important places for our community to gather, to play, and to appreciate the natural world. I believe that as the steward of the Town’s parks and conservation areas, the NRC is well-positioned to bring home the effects of climate change in Wellesley by raising residents’ awareness of how these changes are already altering the spaces we love. In addition to the priorities identified in Question 2, I support the NRC's continued efforts to raise awareness and encourage action (individual and collective) through its programs, communications, and outreach. I will also work to extend NRC’s collaborations with non-traditional partners including businesses, schools, and. houses of worship.
Laura Robert-
The NRC declared a climate emergency in Dec 2019 and resolved to educate others about environmental impacts of climate change, include it as an agenda item at every meeting, and explicitly consider the climate emergency in decision making.
The Wellesley Natural Resources Commission oversees the use, preservation and protection of the town’s parks and conservation areas, serves as tree warden, sets policies for insect control and pesticide use, and protects the town watershed areas. The Commission also appoints the Wetlands Protection Committee and Trails Committee.
Q1. What is your track record on environmental sustainability, including any related interests, experience, or initiatives?
A1.
Bea Bezmalinovic -
My commitment to environmental sustainability started more than a decade ago as part of a personal endeavor to reduce our family’s environmental footprint. In that process, I discovered and benefitted from all the ways in which the Town of Wellesley, community organizations and concerned residents have made it easier to reduce, reuse, and recycle. I began to extend my commitment to environmental sustainability into my volunteer work with Wellesley public schools and a local garden club. As part of my community engagement, I became particularly interested in creating more sustainable natural landscapes that are pollinator-friendly, pesticide free and water-efficient. I have been actively working with the NRC, garden clubs, and neighboring pollinator alliances to launch a similar initiative in Wellesley.
Laura Robert -
I am a thirty-year resident and mother of two Wellesley Public School graduates. My career is in financial services. My experience includes leading a grassroots effort to better protect Wellesley’s water wells and drinking water when confronted with a building development. The collaboration was successful and led to a more environmentally sensitive site solution. Having gained appreciation for our Town government processes, I sought new opportunities to take action to protect our commons, climate and public health. I am an eight-year Town Meeting Member, Natural Resources Commissioner and Trails Committee Member. My initiatives come to life in collaboration with others who also wish to make conservation and development projects better and more sustainable. My experience includes my participation in policy and decision making as a Natural Resources Commissioner as well as my active involvement in environmental advocacy, public engagement, and transparent, inclusive processes concerning our natural assets, open space values, and climate resiliency in a nearly built-out community. My philosophy is simple: take care of our natural assets and they will take care of us.
Q2. What do you think the priorities of the NRC should be for the three years of your prospective term?
A2
Bea Bezmalinovic -
I support the NRC in prioritizing the cultivation of more sustainable and climate resilient public and private landscapes. As part of a participatory planning process undertaken between 2019-2020, the NRC, town representatives and citizens identified four areas in which changing climate is taking shape in Wellesley: intense storms, flooding, heat waves, and drought. These conversations led to the recently completed Municipality Vulnerability Preparedness Program, which creates action implementation blueprints for Town staff and boards to address or reduce the effects of climate change. In this plan, the NRC will champion a program to engage residents, businesses, and partners to create support for implementing sustainable landscape design, installation and maintenance. I believe the NRC plays an important role in educating residents and changing the definition of what a landscape should be. Within this action plan, I will support a wide range of initiatives from pollinator corridors to tree protection. At the same time, I believe we need to balance protection with the residents’ enjoyment and use of our parks and forests so that we can instill an appreciation of the natural world in the next generation of environmental stewards.
Laura Robert-
Priorities for the next three years are guided by our Mission and Open Space and Recreation Plan in collaboration with Wellesley’s Unified Plan and many other Town departments and boards. Goals are re-evaluated annually and the pandemic is a perfect example of how we might pivot thoughtfully when necessary.
Priorities include education and action in the following areas:
· Natural assets that are significant by size and location
· Unprotected open space - privately owned open space exceeds 1,000 acres and is not protected from development.
· Watershed protection in Wellesley and on a regional scale
· Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness - to better prepare for the risks of climate change
· Tree canopy and legacy trees
· Plants and wildlife
· Passive and active recreation
· Connectivity of open spaces and trails to reduce automobile dependency
Q3. As you know, Town Meeting passed the Select Board’s Resolution to Address the Impact of Climate Change in October 2020. How do you envision this resolution being carried out by the Natural Resources Commission in the months ahead?
A3
Bea Bezmalinovic -
If you ask Wellesley residents about their favorite places in town, many will mention a favorite trail, park or playground. These spaces are important places for our community to gather, to play, and to appreciate the natural world. I believe that as the steward of the Town’s parks and conservation areas, the NRC is well-positioned to bring home the effects of climate change in Wellesley by raising residents’ awareness of how these changes are already altering the spaces we love. In addition to the priorities identified in Question 2, I support the NRC's continued efforts to raise awareness and encourage action (individual and collective) through its programs, communications, and outreach. I will also work to extend NRC’s collaborations with non-traditional partners including businesses, schools, and. houses of worship.
Laura Robert-
The NRC declared a climate emergency in Dec 2019 and resolved to educate others about environmental impacts of climate change, include it as an agenda item at every meeting, and explicitly consider the climate emergency in decision making.