Town Government
Boards & Commissions
What Boards & Commissions Are
Beyond the Board of Selectmen and the school committee, much of Holden’s governing happens on volunteer boards and commissions. They review new development, hear zoning appeals, protect the town’s wetlands and open space, weigh in on historic places, advise on the electric utility, and guide services for residents. They are the rooms where an ordinary resident can have the most direct hand in a decision.
Who appoints them is a real question in Holden, and the charter answers it in three places. The voters elect the Moderator, the Board of Selectmen, the Trustees of Damon Memorial and Holden’s six seats on the Wachusett Regional School District Committee, and state law adds the Holden Housing Authority to that ballot. The Moderator appoints the Finance Committee under section 4, unless a town bylaw provides otherwise. And section 14(c) gives the Town Manager the appointment of the Planning Board and the Assessors, which in most Massachusetts towns are elected. Everything else the charter does not name is appointed by the Board of Selectmen.
Key Boards & Commissions
- Planning Board reviews subdivisions, site plans and major development. In Holden the charter makes it an appointment of the Town Manager.
- Zoning Board of Appeals hears variances and special permits, and is staffed through the Building Department. The Board of Selectmen votes its appointments: its approved minutes of June 1, 2026 record a reappointment running to May 31, 2029.
- Conservation Commission protects Holden’s wetlands, brooks and open space, and works out of the Planning and Development office.
- Finance Committee receives the Town Manager’s budget by February 15 each year, reviews it, and advises Town Meeting on what to spend.
- Municipal Electric Power Advisory Board advises on the Holden Municipal Light Department. The Board of Selectmen itself sits as the Light Commissioners.
- Board of Health oversees inspections, clinics and public health rules, with a Health Director on staff.
- Trustees of Damon Memorial hold the powers the law gives trustees of town libraries. Voters elect them: two seats were on the May 11, 2026 ballot.
- Historical Commission and Historic District Commission work on the town’s historic places and administer its historic district bylaw.
- Holden Housing Authority runs the town’s public housing. Elected, five year terms.
- Agricultural Commission, Cultural Council, Recreation Committee and Economic Development Commission each meet publicly and each takes residents.
For the full roster, current members, vacancies and schedules, see holdenma.gov.
How to Serve
- Find an opening on the town’s boards and committees pages, or watch the Agenda Center: appointments and reappointments appear as agenda items before they happen.
- Submit a letter of interest or an application to the Board of Selectmen office in the Starbard Building, 1204 Main Street.
- Come to the meeting. Appointments are voted in open session, on the record, usually on the recommendation of the chair of the board with the vacancy and the Town Manager.
- Serve: attend the public meetings and help make decisions for your town.
There is a shorter route than any of these, and it costs nothing. Every regular Board of Selectmen meeting opens with Citizens Address. In June 2026 one resident used it to ask the board to consider changing its own name, and another used it to ask what the Department of Public Works street sweeping schedule was and whether the town was meeting its stormwater permit. Both are in the approved minutes, by name, with the board’s answers. You do not have to hold a seat to put something in front of the people who do.
Serving on a board is one of the most direct ways to shape Holden.