Town Government
Concord Boards & Commissions
What Boards & Commissions Are
Beyond the Select Board and the School Committee, much of Concord’s governing happens on volunteer boards and commissions. They approve new development, hear zoning appeals, protect the town’s wetlands and open space, weigh in on historic places, and recommend how Community Preservation money gets spent. They are the rooms where an ordinary resident can have the most direct hand in a decision, and the town says it appoints more than twenty of them, permanent and ad hoc.
Who appoints them is a real question here, and Concord’s charter answers it in three places rather than two. Section 2 B gives the SELECT BOARD a named list: the library committee, the Planning Board, the Board of Appeals, the Town Accountant, the trustees of town donations, the personnel board, election officers and the registrars of voters, plus every temporary or ad hoc committee it judges necessary. Section 2 C gives the MODERATOR the Finance Committee, and nothing else in town works that way. Section 2 D gives the TOWN MANAGER everything else, upon merit and fitness alone, with the Town Clerk, Treasurer, Collector and the board of five Assessors also needing the Select Board’s approval.
Notice which offices appear on none of those three lists. The Moderator, the Select Board and the School Committee are elected under charter section 1, and Concord voters also elect the Housing Authority seat that appears on the annual ballot. Everything else on this page is a seat somebody was appointed to, which means it is a seat you can apply for.
Key Boards & Commissions
- Finance Committee reviews the budget and advises Town Meeting on spending. Appointed by the Moderator, and the charter requires the Select Board to put the budget in the hands of every member sixty days before Town Meeting.
- Planning Board reviews subdivisions, site plans, and major development. Appointed by the Select Board under charter section 2 B.
- Zoning Board of Appeals hears variances and special permits. The charter calls it the Board of Appeals and gives it to the Select Board to appoint.
- Natural Resources Commission oversees the town’s conservation land, water resources and open space, working with the Natural Resources division.
- Board of Assessors is five members, appointed by the Town Manager with the Select Board’s approval, and it sets the values your property tax bill is built on.
- Community Preservation Committee recommends how the town spends its Community Preservation Act money on open space, historic preservation, recreation and affordable housing, and Town Meeting votes each project one at a time.
- Historical Commission and Historic Districts Commission work on the town’s historic places and review changes inside its historic districts.
- West Concord Advisory Committee speaks for one part of town by name, which is a reminder that a board can be built around a neighbourhood as easily as around a subject.
For the full roster, current members, vacancies, and schedules, see the town’s Boards & Committees pages.
How to Serve
- Find an opening. The town keeps a running Vacancies and Member Positions page, so you can see which seats are actually open before you write to anybody.
- File a volunteer card. Concord takes applications through an online form it calls the Electronic Volunteer Card, which goes to the office that handles appointments.
- Aim at the right appointing authority. A Finance Committee seat is the Moderator’s to fill. A Planning Board or Board of Appeals seat is the Select Board’s. Most of the rest belong to the Town Manager. Knowing which of the three you are asking is half the work.
- Interview if asked, and await appointment.
- Serve: attend the public meetings and help make decisions for your town.
You do not have to wait for a seat to use these boards. Every one of them meets in public and posts an agenda in advance, so the fastest way to find out whether a committee is worth joining is to sit in on one first.
Serving on a board is one of the most direct ways to shape Concord.
MassCivics last checked this page on October 14, 2026.
Sources
- Town records: Town of Concord, Boards & Committees, as of October 2026.