Board of selectmen

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The Board of Selectmen is commonly the executive arm of town governments in New England. The board may consist of three or five members with staggered terms.

[edit] History

In most New England towns, the adult population gathers annually in a town meeting to act as the local legislature, approving budgets and laws. Day-to-day operations were originally left to individual oversight, but when towns became too large for individuals to handle such work loads, they would elect an executive board of, literally, select(ed) men to run things for them.

These men had charge of the day-to-day operations; selectmen were important in legislating policies central to a community's police force, highway supervisors, poundkeepers, field drivers, and other officials. However, the larger towns grew, the more power would be distributed among other elected boards, such as fire wardens, and police departments. For example, population increases led to the need for actual police departments, of which selectmen typically became the Commissioners. The advent of tarred roads and automobile traffic led to a need for full-time highway maintainers and plowmen, leaving selectmen to serve as Supervisors of Streets and Ways.

The term "selectman" is usually applied even to female board members, and is generally considered gender neutral, although "selectwoman" is also used. Some towns have changed the official designation to the gender-neutral "Select Board."

[edit] Present

The function of the Board of Selectmen differs from state to state, and can differ within a given state depending on the type of governance under which a town operates. Selectmen is almost always a part-time position that pays only a token salary.

The basic function consists of calling town meeting, calling elections, appointing employees, setting certain fees, overseeing certain volunteer and appointed bodies, and creating basic regulations.

In larger towns, most of the selectmen's traditional powers are entrusted to a full-time town administrator or town manager. In some towns, the Board of Selectmen acts more like a city council, but retains the historic name.

In some places, the head of the Board of Selectmen is the First Selectman, who historically has served as the chief administrative officer of the town. Sometimes this is a part-time position, with larger towns hiring a town manager, and sometimes the First Selectman exercises the powers typically associated with mayors.