Town Government
Wareham Select Board
About the Board
The Home Rule Charter vests the executive powers of the town in the Select Board. Five members are elected town-wide to three-year terms, staggered so that roughly a third of the seats are on the ballot every spring, and the charter calls the job part-time. The board is the town’s chief policy-making body, and the charter draws a hard line around how it works: no individual member, and no majority of the board either, may issue orders or instructions to a town employee. The board acts by majority, through the Town Administrator or through the policy it has already set. That is the difference between a board that governs and five people who each run a piece of the town.
- Sets policy and the guidelines every town agency under it has to follow.
- Hires the Town Administrator, which takes the agreement of four of the five members, and holds the Administrator accountable.
- Appoints the Registrar of Voters, the Board of Health, and the members of every other multiple-member body the charter does not fill another way.
- Is the town’s licensing board, which is why liquor licences, entertainment permits and second-hand dealer licences are decided at its meetings.
- Issues the warrant, deciding what business reaches Town Meeting for a vote.
Board Members
All five members are elected town-wide. After each annual town election the board reorganizes and chooses its own officers from among itself, and the vote is taken in public. At the reorganization on May 19, 2026 the board elected Sarah Corbitt Chair by 5 to 0 and Judith Whiteside Clerk by 5 to 0. Wareham’s board has a Chair and a Clerk and does not name a Vice Chair.
Sarah Corbitt
Judith Whiteside
Jared S. Chadwick
Marcus S. Gomes
Joseph M. Still
The town routes contact to board members through the Select Board office, which can be reached at 508-291-3100, extension 3101. The current roster, with each member’s town email address and term expiry, is posted at wareham.gov.
Meetings & How to Participate
- When: 7 pm, generally the first and third Tuesdays, at the Multi-Service Center, 48 Marion Road, Room 520. That is a different building from Memorial Town Hall at 54 Marion Road.
- Agendas and minutes: agendas go up before each meeting and minutes go up once the board approves them, both in the town’s agenda center at wareham.gov. The minutes are worth reading. They carry every roll call vote by name.
- Public comment: the board’s agenda opens with Resident’s Comments. Check the posted agenda for how to sign up.
- Town Meeting: for the budget and the 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.