Opinion: Mattapoisett should expand its Select Board from three to five members

To the editor:

As a Mattapoisett resident, I write to request Town support for a Citizen’s Petition proposing a Warrant Article at Town Meeting on May 12, 2025 voting to expand our Select Board from 3 to 5 members. 

Our Town has grown in size and demographics and expanding our Select Board will lead to more balanced decision-making, greater representation and a more effective local government.

A three-member Board with a simple two-person majority can make significant decisions which affect the entire community. Increasing our Board to 5 members would encourage more diverse perspectives, reduce the risk of deadlocked votes, reduce the impact of conflict recusals and ensure that decisions are made with a broader range of input.

Although expanding our Board may at times result in difficulty reaching “consensus” with 5 members, consensus does not necessarily result in the best solutions for our Town. The Select Board typically has a long list of projects and priorities, many of which remain unaddressed or incomplete for years due to the limited capacity of a 3-member Board. This is especially true for a 3-member Board like ours where each of the members also holds a full-time job. Expanding our Board to 5 members would allow for better distribution of responsibilities of each Board member preventing burnout and improving responsiveness to concerns of our residents.

Increasing our Select Board to 5 members would also avoid Open Meeting Law violations and allow 2 members to communicate with each other or with our Town Administrator to discuss and/or collaborate on Town issues between scheduled Select Board meetings. This could exponentially increase the efficiency of our Town government by allowing members on an expanded Board to do this.

Many Towns of the Commonwealth have moved from a 3- to 5-member Board in recent years with Fairhaven voting in 2021 to expand, Eastham (where our TA came from), Provincetown, Lakeville, Concord, Auburn and Brookline to name a few.

I would ask for your support of this Citizen’s Petition Warrant Article at Town Meeting on May 12, 2025 and I will be seeking signatures in support of it. There are more benefits than drawbacks to this proposal which will be explained in greater detail at Town Meeting. If you support this Warrant Article, I ask for your signature on the Citizen’s Petition. 

Nicole Demakis

ndemakis@tidlaw.com

Mattapoisett