Town Government
Swansea Board of Selectmen
About the Board
Swansea calls this body the Board of Selectmen, and that is the name to use here. It has three members, which is small enough that two of them agreeing is a decision for a town of seventeen thousand people. All three are elected town-wide to three year terms, staggered so that exactly one seat appears on the ballot each April. The board sets town policy, signs the warrants that decide what Town Meeting gets to vote on, appoints residents to many town boards, and hires and supervises the Town Administrator.
The town describes this board as its chief executive body, responsible for the day to day operations of town government acting through its Town Administrator.
- 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.
Board Members
All three members are elected town-wide. After each annual town election the board reorganizes and chooses its own officers, and it does it by recorded vote in an open meeting. The first item on the agenda of April 14, 2026, the day after the town election, was “Vote to Reorganize the Board”. By three unanimous roll calls the board raised Michael K. Beaudette from Vice Chairman to Chairman, raised Robert C. Medeiros from Clerk to Vice Chairman, and made Alanna B. Solitro, elected the day before, its Clerk.
Michael K. Beaudette
Robert C. Medeiros
Alanna B. Solitro
The town routes contact to board members through the Board of Selectmen office at Town Hall, 81 Main Street, which can be reached at 508-678-2981, option 5. The current roster is posted at swanseama.gov.
One Seat a Year, and What That Is Worth
Because the terms are staggered, the board can never turn over all at once, and because there are only three seats, the one on the ballot each April is a third of the town’s executive power. In 2026 that seat was the only contested race on the entire Swansea ballot. Alanna B. Solitro won it with 1,193 votes to 470, out of 1,677 voters who checked in. Every other office that day was decided by a single candidate running.
That is a fact about how much room there is in Swansea for someone who wants to serve. Three Constable seats were on the same ballot and the Clerk’s own results sheet records them, in these words, as a failure to elect: nobody had run. Nomination papers for the April 2027 election become available from the Town Clerk in early January.
Meetings & How to Participate
- When: every other Tuesday at 6:30 pm at the School Administration Building, One Gardners Neck Road. Note the address, because the board does not meet at Town Hall.
- Agendas & minutes: posted in advance by the Town Clerk’s office and archived at swanseama.gov.
- Watch: meetings are broadcast live on Swansea Comcast Channel 96 and on the Swansea Community Network Facebook page, and replayed afterwards.
- 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.