Town Government
Boards & Commissions
What Boards & Commissions Are
Beyond the Select Board and the regional School Committee, much of Raynham’s governing happens on boards and commissions staffed by residents. They approve new development, hear zoning appeals, protect the wetlands along the Taunton River and Johnson’s Pond, advise Town Meeting on the budget, and hand out small grants for the arts. They are the rooms where an ordinary resident can have the most direct hand in a decision.
Raynham fills these seats two ways, and the difference matters. Some you get by appointment: the Select Board publishes the list it appoints, which includes the Cable Television Advisory Board, two citizen seats on the Capital Planning Committee, the Council on Aging, the Cultural Council, the Economic and Business Development Committee, the Historical Commission, the Mobile Home Rent Control Board, the Open Space Committee, the Recycling Committee, the Registrars of Voters, the SAVE Committee, the School Planning and Building Committee, and the Solid Waste Committee. Others you get by winning an election.
Key Boards & Commissions
- Planning Board reviews subdivisions, site plans, and major development. Its members are elected, on five-year terms.
- Board of Appeals hears variances and special permits, and its members are appointed by the Select Board.
- Conservation Commission protects Raynham’s wetlands, rivers, and open space, and its commissioners are appointed by the Select Board.
- Finance Committee reviews the budget and advises Town Meeting on spending. Its members are appointed by the Select Board.
- Board of Health in Raynham is the Select Board itself, sitting under a second name.
- Cultural Council regrants state arts money to local individuals and organizations. Raynham’s is one of 335 local cultural councils in Massachusetts, and its members serve three-year terms.
For the full roster, current members, vacancies, and schedules, see town.raynham.ma.us.
The Seats Voters Fill
Raynham puts an unusual number of boards directly on the ballot, which means you can join several of them without waiting to be appointed. The certified results of the April 25, 2026 annual town election filled seats on the Select Board, the Board of Assessors, the Sewer Commission, the Planning Board, the Park and Recreation Commission, the Cemetery Commission, the Housing Authority, and both Bridgewater-Raynham School Committee races on that ballot. Every one of those was decided by the 1,051 residents who voted that Saturday.
How to Serve
- Find an opening. The town posts vacancies on its own news page, and it posts them often: in June 2026 alone it advertised three citizen seats on the Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Committee and an associate seat on the Planning Board.
- Submit a letter of interest or application to the Select Board office at Town Hall.
- Expect the board that knows the work to weigh in. When the Cultural Council had an open seat in 2026, the council recommended a candidate and the Select Board made the appointment on that recommendation.
- Or run. Nomination papers for the April town election come out in the winter, and the Town Clerk’s office publishes who has taken them out and returned them.
- Serve: attend the public meetings and help make decisions for your town.
Serving on a board is one of the most direct ways to shape Raynham.