Town Government
Northborough Select Board
About the Board
The board’s own page describes it as the town’s body of chief elected officials, with the authority to enact rules and regulations setting town policy where a bylaw, the charter or a statute has not already settled the question. All five members are elected town-wide, so every Northborough voter helps choose all five, and each serves a staggered three-year term that puts two seats on the ballot in most years. When a daily problem becomes town policy, this is the room where it happens.
- Appoints the town’s senior officers, including the Town Administrator, the Police Chief, the Fire Chief and the Town Accountant, along with many boards, committees and commissions.
- Issues licences and permits, among them alcohol, car dealerships, common victualler and entertainment, and it regulates the public ways.
- Controls the warrant, deciding what business reaches Town Meeting for a vote.
Board Members
All five members are elected town-wide. Two seats were filled at the Annual Town Election of May 12, 2026, when Jeffrey Ostiguy took 1,082 votes and Leslie Rutan 1,060. Six days later, on May 18, the board reorganized in the large meeting room at the Northborough Free Library, with Town Clerk Daymian Bartek running the nominations. Two members were put forward for Chair. Michael Tietjen’s nomination failed by a roll call of 2 to 3 and Jonathan Rea’s carried 3 to 2, so Rea took the gavel. The board then chose Tietjen as Vice Chair and Julianne Hirsh as Clerk, both unanimously. Watching a contested chair vote play out by name and by roll call is one of the plainest lessons in how a five-member board actually works.
Jonathan Rea
Michael Tietjen
Julianne Hirsh
Jeffrey Ostiguy
Leslie Rutan
The town routes contact to board members through the Select Board office, which can be reached at (508) 393-5041, and the town’s own page carries an email link for the board as a whole. Member listings are posted at northboroughma.gov/select-board.
Meetings & How to Participate
- When: Monday evenings at 6:30 pm, generally twice a month, in the Select Board Meeting Room on the second floor of Town Hall at 63 Main Street, with a Zoom link on every notice. The town posts each agenda in advance.
- Agendas & minutes: posted in advance at northboroughma.gov/select-board. Approved minutes often appear first inside the next meeting’s packet, so open the packet if the minutes list looks behind.
- Watch it: Northborough Media Connection streams every meeting live on YouTube and carries it on Verizon channel 30 and Charter channel 192.
- 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.