It happened almost instantaneously Monday as two new commissioners took their seats on the Wendell town board.

And just as spring coats the earth in a jacket of new life, we trust that the changing personalities on the town board will give that town new life.

Sam Laughery and James Parham are new to commission work. Neither one has held elected office before, although they’ve both been faithful followers of government. Laughery has already served a term on the Wendell Planning Board and Parham has a career in public service behind him.

Hopefully, they will learn from the mistakes of the past.

We’ve been told commissioners will peel back the restrictions that the previous board placed on the mayor, allowing newly-elected mayor Tim Hinnant the freedom to represent the town fully, something that was denied former Mayor Harold Broadwell in the last two years of his term in office.

Of course, giving that responsibility back to the mayor insinuates an expectation on the town board’s part that he will exercise that responsibility. In addition to helping guide and direct the efforts of the town board, Hinnant will be expected to follow his predecessor’s example when it comes to representing the town of Wendell at the state and regional level.

To be sure, that’s one of the least glamorous roles of any mayor, but most political insiders will tell you that’s often where the work gets done.

As Broadwell said in his farewell remarks Monday night, Wendell must take its seat at the table.

That job will fall squarely on Hinnant’s shoulders.

We also hope the new board will place a high priority on openness, another characteristic that was sadly missing in the previous board. Conducting the town’s business fully in the open engenders trust among the electorate and, whether the public agrees with a board decision or not, at least they are able to see the government in action.

The previous board spent far too much time meeting behind closed doors and holding meetings that “weren’t” meetings to ever build a great trust with the voters who sent them to town hall.

And, finally, we hope and expect that the town board will make a sound decision as it contemplates hiring a new town manager. The previous board couldn’t do it right, apparently, choosing to ground the tenure of former manager Hugh Montgomery almost before it could get in the air.

As the town works to position itself for an eventual economic recovery, it will be vital that the corner office at town hall be filled with a permanent hire who has the authority to manage the town’s day-to-day operations without interference and micromanagement from commissioners.

That’s a tough task for commissioners who may believe they’ve been given a mandate at the voting booth to install their own individual ideologies in the staff.

For a town that has struggled mightily during the last two years, Monday’s night breath of fresh air had all the trappings of a season of renewal.