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Easthampton Boards & Commissions

Where the Real Decisions Get Made

Easthampton keeps more than forty boards, commissions and committees, and every one of them posts its agendas and minutes in the same public calendar the City Council uses. These are the bodies that decide whether a wetland can be built on, whether a liquor license is granted, what the city buys with its Community Preservation money, and how it protects the single aquifer all of its drinking water comes from. They are made up of residents, and the city says out loud how to join one.

The path is short and it is written down. You check the published list of vacancies, then file an application with a letter of interest, on paper at the Mayor’s Office or through the city’s online form. The Mayor sends the name to the City Council, which refers it to the Council’s Appointment Committee. That committee vets the candidate, may ask the candidate to appear, and reports back to the full Council between seven and thirty days later. An appointment then takes effect automatically after forty five days, unless the Council votes to reject it or votes sooner to affirm it. The city’s appointment process page counts those days from when the recommendation reaches the City Clerk, and Charter Section 3-3 counts them from the regularly scheduled Council meeting that first receives the appointment. Before your first meeting as a voting member you swear the oath in person with the City Clerk.

Vacancies, applications and the appointment process

Some of the Boards, and What They Decide

  • Planning Board. Reviews subdivisions and site plans, issues special permits under the zoning ordinance, and drafts the zoning changes that go to the City Council.
  • Zoning Board of Appeals. Hears appeals from zoning decisions and applications for variances.
  • Conservation Commission. Runs the local side of the state Wetlands Protection Act and the Rivers Protection Act. Staffed by the city’s Conservation Agent.
  • Aquifer Protection Committee. Protects the city’s sole source of drinking water through regulations, ordinances, development review and land acquisition.
  • Board of Health. Oversees the work of the Health Agent and the Public Health Nurse.
  • Board of Public Works. Three members appointed by the Mayor. Sets the priorities and policies the Department of Public Works runs on, and the DPW Director reports to it.
  • Community Preservation Act Committee. Recommends to the City Council what the city’s Community Preservation money buys: open space, affordable housing, historic preservation and recreation.
  • Affordable & Fair Housing Partnership. Supports the production and preservation of long term affordable housing and advises the city on fair housing.
  • Commission on Disability. Works to bring Easthampton into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act on access across the city.
  • Community Relations Committee. Works to promote positive relations across Easthampton’s whole population.
  • Agricultural Commission. Represents the city’s farms, livestock and forestry businesses.
  • Energy Advisory Committee and the BEES Committee. Advise the city on cost effective energy use, conservation and renewable generation, and on environmentally responsive policy.
  • Historical Commission, Cultural Council and Easthampton City Arts. The bodies behind the city’s historic buildings, cultural grants and public art.
  • Manhan Rail Trail and Nashawannuck Pond Committees. Two standing committees for two of the places residents use most.
  • Ranked Choice Voting Ad Hoc Committee. Easthampton counts its city races by ranked choice voting, and it keeps a committee on the subject.
  • Rent Study Committee. A current committee looking at rents in the city, chaired from the City Council.

The city publishes the full list, with each body’s agendas and minutes, on its own site.

Easthampton boards and committees

What Serving Actually Involves

  • Open Meeting Law. Every board meets in public, posts its notices on the city bulletin boards and the city website, keeps minutes, and sets aside time at each meeting for members of the public to ask questions and state opinions. The charter requires that public comment period by name.
  • Conflict of Interest. The State Ethics Commission treats a board member as a special municipal employee, so the online ethics training is required soon after appointment and again on a regular cycle.
  • Attendance counts. Under Charter Section 8-7, a member who misses three consecutive meetings, or half the meetings in a year, can have the seat declared vacant by the rest of the body after written notice.
  • The oath. Swearing in happens in person with the City Clerk, and it has to happen before your first meeting as a voting member.
  • Questions. The Mayor’s Office runs the appointment process. 413-529-1400 Ext. 470.

Meetings are public, and the agenda is posted before every one.

Public Hearings & Civic Engagement

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MassCivics last checked this page on October 20, 2026.

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