Town Government
Somerset Board of Selectmen
About the Board
The Board of Selectmen is elected town-wide, so every Somerset voter helps choose all three, and each serves a three-year term on a staggered schedule that puts one seat on the ballot most springs. The board sets town policy, approves the warrants that decide what Town Meeting gets to vote on, carries out the votes Town Meeting passes, enforces the town bylaws, appoints residents to many town boards, and hires and supervises the Town Administrator. When a daily problem becomes town policy, this is the room where it happens.
The same three people wear two more hats. Somerset’s Board of Selectmen also sits as the Board of Health and as the Licensing Board, which is why one board decides both a public health rule and whether a restaurant gets its licence. Knowing that saves you a trip: the meeting is the same meeting.
- Sets policy and direction for the whole town.
- Hires the Town Administrator and holds the Administrator accountable.
- Controls the warrant, deciding what business reaches Town Meeting for a vote.
- Sits as the Board of Health and the Licensing Board, handling health rules and licences from alcohol to common victualler.
Board Members
All three members are elected town-wide. After each annual town election the board reorganizes and chooses its own officers. At its reorganization on April 16, 2026, three days after the election, it voted Allen Smith as Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Joseph Bednarik as Clerk, and Todd Costa as Chairman of the Board of Health.
Allen Smith
Joseph Bednarik
Todd Costa
The town routes contact to board members through the Board of Selectmen office at Town Hall, which can be reached at 508-646-2800. The current roster is posted at townofsomerset.org.
The 2026 Town Election
One selectman’s seat was on the ballot on April 13, 2026, and four candidates ran for it. Joseph Bednarik won with 894 votes to Kathleen Souza’s 826, a margin of 68 in a town where 1,865 people voted. Town Clerk Caitlin Hadala certified the result and signed the tally sheet a true copy attest. If you ever wonder whether a local election is close enough to be worth your Monday afternoon, that is your answer.
The same ballot elected the Town Moderator, the one person who runs Town Meeting and rules on procedure there. Kyle Neves won that seat with 887 votes to Brian Gerry’s 678. An open Town Meeting town elects no town meeting members, because every registered voter already is one, so the Moderator is the only officer Town Meeting itself puts on the ballot.
Meetings & How to Participate
- When: Thursday evenings, usually twice a month, at the Somerset Public Library, 1464 County Street. Each agenda is posted by 3 pm on the Friday before.
- Get on the agenda: requests are due at the Board of Selectmen office by noon on the Friday before the meeting.
- Agendas & minutes: posted at townofsomerset.org in the Agenda Center.
- Watch from home: meetings run on Somerset Access Television, government channel 96, and on demand at somersetaccesstv.org.
- 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.