Town Government
Winchester Select Board
About the Board
The Select Board is elected town-wide, so every Winchester voter helps choose all five seats, and each carries a three-year term on a staggered schedule that puts seats on the ballot each March. The board sets town policy, signs the warrants that decide what Town Meeting gets to vote on, appoints residents to many town committees, and hires and supervises the Town Manager who runs the town day to day. When a daily problem becomes town policy, this is the room where it happens.
- Sets policy and direction for the whole town.
- Hires the Town Manager and holds the manager accountable.
- Controls the warrant, deciding what business reaches Town Meeting for a vote.
Board Members
Members are elected town-wide, and the board chooses one of its own as Chair to run its meetings and another as Vice Chair. At its March 30, 2026 reorganization the board unanimously elected Anthea Brady as Chair and Bill McGonigle as Vice Chair.
Anthea Brady
Bill McGonigle
Michelle Prior
Michael Bettencourt
The fifth seat is vacant: Paras Bhayani resigned effective July 14, 2026, partway through a term that runs to March 2028, and the board is weighing when and how to fill the seat. Until it does, four members carry the board’s full workload.
The town routes contact to board members through the Select Board office at Town Hall, 781-721-7133. The current roster is posted at winchester.us.
Meetings & How to Participate
- When: most Monday evenings in the Select Board Room at Town Hall, 71 Mt. Vernon St.
- Agendas & minutes: posted in advance on the town website at winchester.us.
- 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 representative Town Meeting members elected from your precinct.
Sources
Winchester Select Board (winchester.us). Verified August 2026.
Winchester News: reorganization vote reported April 10, 2026; the vacancy reported July 24 and July 31, 2026.
What this seat decides
Your Select Board
Streets and sidewalks, licenses, a crosswalk or a speed limit, and how something gets onto the Town Meeting warrant. Ask the engineering department who owns the road before you write: a numbered state route is MassDOT's rather than your town's, and your State Representative is who can ask them. It runs the town day to day, or hires the Town Manager or Town Administrator who does, and new bylaws are voted by Town Meeting rather than by the board.
Public hearings and meetings are where residents shape town decisions.