Board of Selectmen renamed Select Board
Town Meeting approves gender-neutral title change, reduces Finance Committee size
RAYNHAM - May 19 - Raynham Town Meeting voters approved changing the name of the Board of Selectmen to Select Board Monday night, joining a growing number of Massachusetts communities adopting gender-neutral language in their governing bodies.
The change, approved as Article 23 during the Annual Town Meeting at Raynham Middle School, amends the town's general bylaws to replace all instances of "Board of Selectmen" and "Selectmen" with "Select Board" and ensures related text is revised to properly reflect the change in title.
"For the purposes of these general bylaws and otherwise, the board of selectmen shall be referred to as the select board. Members of the board shall be referred to as select board members," the article stated.
The article was amended during the meeting to remove references to zoning bylaws, which will be addressed at a later date since zoning bylaw changes require a different voting threshold than general bylaw changes.
When a resident asked about potential costs associated with the change, such as replacing letterhead and business cards, Selectman Joseph Pacheco assured voters that expenses would be minimal.
"I don't think any of us expect any costs to come from this. We print our letterhead off the printer at the office. We have to order it, so we're pretty cheap," Pacheco said.
The article passed with a voice vote after little discussion, reflecting the relatively uncontroversial nature of the change.
Town Meeting also approved Article 25, which reduces the size of the Finance Committee from seven to five members. The article passed by a vote of 172-124 after considerable discussion.
Finance Committee Chairman Gilbert Alegi explained the rationale for the reduction, noting the evolution of the town's financial management structure over the past two decades.
"In fiscal year 2006, 20 years ago, the budget was $22.8 million, and the Finance Committee did most of the work, preparing the budget and submitting it to the board and selecting it," Alegi said. "This year, the fiscal year budget is kicking off, so we've gone from a small town with a small budget to a big town with a big budget."
Alegi pointed out that the town now has a strong town administrator and finance director, positions that have taken on significant responsibilities previously handled by the Finance Committee.
"We feel that with them doing most of the work, that they'll be nominated and back on the inside of the budget from seven to five members," he said.
The proposal faced opposition from some residents who questioned whether the reduction was an attempt to address the committee's inability to fill vacancies.
"I believe we've had a vacancy for about a year now," Alegi acknowledged when asked about current openings on the committee.
One resident moved to table the article, but that motion failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority.
Lee Kozak of Sherman Lane spoke in support of the reduction, citing the difficulty in finding volunteers for town committees.
"Having served on a couple of committees, it is impossible to get people to serve on our committees," Kozak said. "The same people serve year after year, committee after committee. We need our town members to get involved, but also the fact that there's been a vacancy on the support committee is absurd in a town of 15,000 people."
Another resident, Lila Bloom, countered that there had been "at least three viable candidates" for the Finance Committee vacancies.
Town Counsel clarified that current members would serve out their terms, with the reduction taking effect as terms expire.
In other business, Town Meeting approved a $50.8 million operating budget for fiscal year 2026 and voted to place a Proposition 2- ½ override question on the ballot to fund the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District budget. The override would provide an additional $3.9 million to the school district.
Voters also approved several land transfers related to the planned public safety facility, authorized a 99-year lease of the former South School to a nonprofit organization, and adopted zoning changes to comply with the state's MBTA Communities Act, which requires towns to zone for multi-family housing.
The meeting concluded with approval of a citizen's petition to authorize an additional all-alcohol license for a convenience store at 1348 New State Highway (Route 44), despite opposition from Selectman Pacheco, who expressed concern about the proliferation of liquor licenses in town, stating that "over the past couple of years, we've seen establishment after establishment use this loophole to add liquor licenses to the allocation that the state gives each community to the point that if you look at 44, virtually every gas station and every retail establishment has a liquor license."
Watch the complete Town Meeting courtesy of the Raynham Channel.
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