MassVoter.com← BellinghamMunicipal votes · 2020–2021 Board
Bellingham Select Board
How the Bellingham Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 5 Select Board members elected townwide for three-year terms. Michael Connor chaired the board, with Daniel M. Spencer, Cynthia (Cindy) McNulty, Kelly Grant and Don Martinis. Minutes from May 2018 to January 2021 are not on the town’s website (MassVoter is asking the town for them), so this board’s meetings are loaded from January 25, 2021 on. The start date is a placeholder. Covers 10 meetings, January 25 to May 3, 2021.
A monthly email on what it voted on, starting in November.
What does the Select Board do? It is the town’s executive board. It prepares the Town Meeting warrant (the list of articles voters decide), appoints members of many town boards, hires the town’s top staff, signs warrants to pay town bills, and grants licenses and permits.
Town Meeting, not the Select Board, votes the town budget and town bylaws.
Sources: Massachusetts Select Board Handbook (MMA) · Mass. Division of Local Services: the town budgetYour Bellingham ballot: 13 quizzes, about a minute each.
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Coming up
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Under the state Open Meeting Law, boards post notice at least 48 hours ahead, not counting weekends and legal holidays.
Members
Daniel M. SpencerMember · Elected townwide · at 9 of 10 meetingsKelly GrantMember · Elected townwide · at 10 of 10 meetings
Don MartinisMember · Elected townwide · at 10 of 10 meetingsCynthia McNultyMember · Elected townwide · at 10 of 10 meetings"At X of Y meetings" counts the members the minutes list as present at the start of each meeting in this record. Members who step out are listed on each meeting page.
Meetings
About missing minutes
Loaded: Bellingham Select Board (the town writes “Selectboard”; earlier called the Board of Selectmen) minutes from January 25, 2021 through August 24, 2026, from the town’s Agenda Center, which holds the board’s minutes from 2021 on, plus six meetings from January 22 to April 23, 2018 kept in an archived copy of the town’s old website. Not here: minutes from May 2018 through December 2020 and for January 2021 before January 25, which are not online (MassVoter is asking the town for them); the April 11, 2023 meeting (the file posted for it is a copy of the April 11, 2022 minutes); the February 16, 2022 and May 15, 2023 meetings (agenda only); and meetings after August 24, 2026 (the town usually posts minutes about six weeks after a meeting). Most minutes from 2021 to early 2026 (128 files) are scanned images, which MassVoter read with text recognition and checked by hand; 17 are typed files. Bellingham’s minutes give the mover and seconder of each motion (“On a Spencer/Altomonte motion”) and usually a count (“the Board unanimously voted 5-0”), naming any member who votes no or abstains (“voted 3-1 with Mr. Martinis opposing”); some votes are roll calls by name. When the count matches the members present, each member is shown voting as recorded; when the minutes say “unanimously” without a count, every member present is shown voting yes. Where a count does not match the members present, or a split count does not say who voted which way, we show the count only and add a note; where the minutes give no count at all, we show the result only. Joint votes with the Planning Board, Housing Authority or Library Trustees show only the Select Board members’ votes. We will ask the town to confirm any noted vote.
Votes where members disagreed
Most board votes are unanimous. These are the ones where at least one member voted no or abstained, newest first.
Apr 26Deny the change of ownership interest request on the…Motion: A Spencer/McNulty motion the Board voted 3-2 to deny the change…Passed 3–2 · see note
April 26, 2021: Deny the change of ownership interest request on the application of Shoppes Liquors for the following reasons: e The Selectboard determined that when the license was originally approved on October...
A Spencer/McNulty motion the Board voted 3-2 to deny the change of ownership interest request on the application of Shoppes Liquors for the following reasons: e The Selectboard determined that when the license was originally approved on October 7, 2019, the applicant represented that he intended to remain the primary owner indefinitely, which influenced Board members in light of Mr. Pelletier's longtime ties and service to the Town. e During the October 7, 2019 hearing, multiple Board members expressed that they 2 believed an additional package store license in Town was not merited but voted in favor of Mr. Pelletier given his community involvement and that Town Meeting had approved seeking a special act for his license at 191 Mechanic Street. e The store initially opened for business in November 2020.
The minutes give only the count (3-2), not who voted no or abstained.
From the minutes
“A Spencer/McNulty motion the Board voted 3-2 to deny the change of ownership interest request on the application of Shoppes Liquors for the following reasons: e The Selectboard determined that when the license was originally approved on October 7, 2019, the applicant represented that he intended to remain the primary owner indefinitely, which influenced Board members in light of Mr. Pelletier's longtime ties and service to the Town. e During the October 7, 2019 hearing, multiple Board members expressed that they 2 believed an additional package store license in Town was not merited but voted in favor of Mr. Pelletier given his community involvement and that Town Meeting had approved seeking a special act for his license at 191 Mechanic Street. e The store initially opened for business in November 2020..” (Motion: Daniel M. Spencer, second: McNulty)
Mar 1Appoint Sharon Blanchard to the Bellingham Cultural CouncilMotion: On a Spencer/McNulty motion the Board unanimously voted 4-0-1 with Mr.…Passed 4–0 · Abstained: Connor
March 1, 2021: Appoint Sharon Blanchard to the Bellingham Cultural Council
On a Spencer/McNulty motion the Board unanimously voted 4-0-1 with Mr. Connor abstaining to appoint Sharon Blanchard to the Bellingham Cultural Council.
Yes: Daniel M. Spencer, Grant, Martinis, McNultyAbstained: Connor
From the minutes
“On a Spencer/McNulty motion the Board unanimously voted 4-0-1 with Mr. Connor abstaining to appoint Sharon Blanchard to the Bellingham Cultural Council..” (Motion: Daniel M. Spencer, second: McNulty)
From the Bellingham Select Board’s official minutes, posted in the town’s Agenda Center. We check every vote against the Select Board members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials.
How to read these pagesWhere the votes come from, how we check them against the official minutes, what isn't included yet, and how to report a mistake.About city pages →