Town Government
Ashland Select Board
About the Board
The Select Board is elected town-wide, so every Ashland voter helps choose all five. Charter section 3-2(a) gives each member a three-year term, staggered so that as nearly an equal number as possible expire each year, which is why only one or two seats appear on the ballot in any given spring. Section 3-2(c) is where the board’s reach shows: it appoints the Town Manager who runs the town day to day, Town Counsel, the external auditor who performs the town’s annual financial audit, the registrars of voters, and every other town officer and multiple member body the charter does not assign to someone else. When a daily problem becomes town policy, this is the room where it happens.
- Sets policy and direction for the whole town.
- Hires the Town Manager and can end that appointment at its pleasure.
- Controls the warrant, deciding what business reaches Town Meeting for a vote.
Board Members
All five members are elected town-wide. After each annual town election the board reorganizes and chooses its own officers from among itself. At the reorganization of May 20, 2026, the day after the annual town election, the board voted 5 to 0 three times: Brandi Kinsman as Chair, Claudia Bennett as Vice Chair, and Makeda Keegan as Clerk.
Brandi Kinsman
Claudia Bennett
Makeda Keegan
Yolanda Greaves
Joseph J. Magnani, Jr.
The town routes contact to board members through the Select Board office, which can be reached at 508-881-0100 ext. 2021. The member roster is posted at ashlandmass.com.
Meetings & How to Participate
- When: the board meets on the first and third Wednesday of the month, usually at 7pm, at Ashland Town Hall, 101 Main Street. Meetings are hybrid, so you can take part in the room or online. The town posts each agenda in advance.
- Agendas & minutes: posted on the town’s Agenda Center at ashlandmass.com, and you can sign up for an alert when a new one goes up.
- Watch: the Select Board meets in hybrid form, so you can take part from home without travelling to Town Hall. WACA TV, Ashland’s community media organization, runs the town’s public, education and government channels.
- Public comment: residents may address the board. Check the agenda for the procedure.
- Town Meeting: for the budget and bylaws, the deciding vote belongs to the registered voters in the hall, which can include you.
Public hearings and meetings are where residents shape town decisions.