Town Leadership
The Board of Selectmen’s Office
Three Executives, All of Them Elected
The Board of Selectmen as Executive
When a road goes unplowed in East Brookfield, the response does not cross an administrator’s desk, because the town does not employ one. The three elected members of the Board of Selectmen, Chairman Andrew Lynch, Clerk Robert Button, and Amber Kowalczyk, run the town themselves. The town’s own page names them the Chief Elected Officers of East Brookfield, and the General Laws of Massachusetts and the town bylaws grant the board broad powers to govern: it acts as the primary policy-making body, appoints residents to town boards and committees, recommends the budget to the Annual Town Meeting, oversees the town departments, and serves as the town’s licensing authority. Most Massachusetts towns of this shape hire a professional Town Administrator to carry the daily machinery; East Brookfield keeps that machinery in the hands of the people it elects. That changes what an election here means: when you vote for a Selectmen’s seat, you are not choosing someone to supervise a manager, you are choosing a working executive. The person who answers for the plowing schedule and the town budget sits at a public table in Meeting Room A at the Memorial Town Complex every Monday evening at 6, and the seat across from them is open to any resident who walks in. Because one of the three seats is on the ballot every single year, the whole board faces the voters over any three-year stretch.
| Role | Board of Selectmen, the town’s chief executive officers and licensing authority |
|---|---|
| Selection | Three members elected town-wide to staggered three-year terms, one seat up each year |
| Office | Memorial Town Complex, 122 Connie Mack Drive, East Brookfield, MA 01515 |
| Phone | (508) 867-6769 Ext. 300 |
| Website | eastbrookfieldma.us |
What the Board of Selectmen’s Office Does
- Sets policy. The board acts as the town’s primary policy-making body on the whole range of issues that affect East Brookfield’s development and services.
- Builds the warrant. The board decides what reaches Town Meeting, signing the warrant for every Annual and Special Town Meeting.
- Recommends the budget. The board recommends the annual budget to the Annual Town Meeting, alongside the Finance Committee’s review, and Town Meeting holds the final vote.
- Licenses. The board is the licensing authority for the town, from alcoholic beverage licenses to common victuallers and one-day permits.
- Answers to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in East Brookfield that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- The office staff: Administrative Assistant Sharon Larocque runs the Selectmen’s Office day to day, keeping office hours across the week for residents and handling the agenda, the licenses, and the town’s daily paperwork.
- Elected offices carry much of the work. The town ballot fills a long list of working offices, among them the Treasurer, Collector, Assessors, Board of Health, Planning Board, Cemetery Commissioner, Finance Committee, Library Trustees, and Tree Warden, so the executive branch here is a web of ballots, not one org chart.
- Boards and commissions, permanent and ad hoc, are appointed by the Board of Selectmen and decide questions like zoning, conservation, and historic preservation.
Contact & Engage
- Town offices: Memorial Town Complex, 122 Connie Mack Drive, with public office hours across the week.
- Selectmen’s Office: (508) 867-6769 Ext. 300, fax (508) 867-4190.
- Report a problem: potholes, broken signs, and plowing go to the Highway Department, (508) 867-6575.
- Show up: the board meets every Monday at 6:00 PM in Meeting Room A at the Memorial Town Complex, and the public is welcome.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.