How the Belmont Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 3 Select Board members elected townwide for three-year terms. Jim Williams served as Chair and Mark Paolillo as Vice Chair, with Adam Dash (as the January 2018 minutes list them; this board was chosen in 2017, before the loaded years). The minutes call the board the Board of Selectmen. Jim Williams’s last meeting was April 2, 2018. Covers 9 meetings, January 8 to April 2, 2018.
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.
From the agendas Belmont posts on its official site. Agendas can change; the posted agenda is the official one.
What Town Meeting decided
In Belmont, Town Meeting — not the Select Board — votes the town budget, bylaws and zoning. Here is what it did with each article, in the Town Clerk’s own words. Town Meeting members are elected by precinct; counts are from the town’s electronic voting.
Special Town Meeting · October 20, 2025 16 votes: 13 passed, 1 failed, 2 no action
Not here yet: Belmont's 2026 meetings (March 4 Special, May 4 Annual and May 18 Special Town Meetings) are not here because the Town Clerk has posted only electronic roll-call tallies for them, which do not say whether each motion passed; the November 16, 2026 Special Town Meeting has not happened yet.
Titles are short descriptions of each article from the official record; the quoted words are the Town Clerk’s. A vote at Town Meeting is not the final word on everything: some articles also need a ballot vote (such as a tax override) or the Attorney General’s approval (bylaws).
"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: Belmont Select Board minutes from January 8, 2018 through September 21, 2026: 400 meetings and 3,612 votes. The town’s Agenda Center holds the board’s minutes back to 2012; MassVoter has loaded 2018 on. The board was the Board of Selectmen; the minutes switch to the name Select Board in the fall of 2019 (first on September 16, 2019), with both names used until the end of that year. Minutes from 2022 on are typed documents with searchable text; the 2018 to 2021 minutes are copier scans, and 219 of them had little or no text, so MassVoter read them with text recognition and checked where names or counts were unclear. Joint meetings with the School Committee, Warrant Committee, Board of Assessors and other boards are loaded when the Select Board voted as a board; only the Select Board’s votes are shown, and joint meetings where it took no vote of its own are left out. Not here: executive-session minutes; cancelled meetings and meetings without a quorum; site visits; meetings with an agenda but no posted minutes, among them May 11, June 3 and June 8, 2026; dates where the file posted belongs to another meeting or board (several 2018 Belmont High School Building Committee files, the April 30, 2018 evening slot, and repeated 2024 postings, each loaded once under its own date); and meetings after September 21, 2026 other than that one: the July 13, July 20, August 10, August 12 (with the Board of Assessors), August 31, September 9, September 28 and October 5, 2026 minutes are not posted yet. Belmont’s minutes usually say a motion “was seconded and passed unanimously” or “unanimously by roll call vote,” with an attendance list at the top (present, remote, absent); split votes give a count and name the member voting no or abstaining (“passed 2-1 with Ms. Berberian voting in opposition”). On a three-member board, a named no or abstention with the others voting yes names every vote. A count equal to the members present, or unanimous wording, is shown as every member present voting yes. Where the count and the names in the minutes disagree, or a split count names no one, we show the count only (17 votes), and where the minutes give no count or names (mostly 2018’s “The BOS voted in favor”) we show the result only (68 votes). Members who recused themselves or were out of the room are not shown in that vote; members who arrived late or left early are shown only in the votes they were there for. A motion with no recorded outcome is not counted as a vote. We will ask the town to confirm any noted vote.
Most board votes are unanimous. These are the ones where at least one member voted no or abstained, newest first.
Apr 2Accept the gift from the Library Foundation in the…Motion: Vice Chair Paolillo moved to accept the gift from the Library…Passed · see note
April 2, 2018: Accept the gift from the Library Foundation in the amount of $150,000.00 to be used for the schematic design of the new library
ApprovePassed · No count or names in the minutes
Vice Chair Paolillo moved to accept the gift from the Library Foundation in the amount of $150,000.00 to be used for the schematic design of the new library. The BOS voted in favor of the motion.
The minutes record the result but no count or names.
From the minutes
“Vice Chair Paolillo moved to accept the gift from the Library Foundation in the amount of $150,000.00 to be used for the schematic design of the new library. The BOS voted in favor of the motion..” (Motion: Paolillo)
Apr 2Amend the article for Single Use Plastic Bag Reduction…Motion: Selectman Dash moved to amend the article for Single Use Plastic…Passed · see note
April 2, 2018: Amend the article for Single Use Plastic Bag Reduction to incorporate the changes as approved by the Bylaw Review Committee and to change the enforcing authority to the Recycling Coordinator…
ApprovePassed · No count or names in the minutes
Selectman Dash moved to amend the article for Single Use Plastic Bag Reduction to incorporate the changes as approved by the Bylaw Review Committee and to change the enforcing authority to the Recycling Coordinator from the Board of Health. Vice Chair Paolillo seconded. The BOS voted in favor of the motion.
The minutes record the result but no count or names.
From the minutes
“Selectman Dash moved to amend the article for Single Use Plastic Bag Reduction to incorporate the changes as approved by the Bylaw Review Committee and to change the enforcing authority to the Recycling Coordinator from the Board of Health. Vice Chair Paolillo seconded. The BOS voted in favor of the motion..” (Motion: Dash, second: Paolillo)
Apr 2Adopt the Town of Belmont's Complete Streets Program as…Motion: Vice Chair Paolillo moved to adopt the Town of Belmont's Complete…Passed · see note
April 2, 2018: Adopt the Town of Belmont's Complete Streets Program as presented by the Office of Community Development
ApprovePassed · No count or names in the minutes
Vice Chair Paolillo moved to adopt the Town of Belmont's Complete Streets Program as presented by the Office of Community Development. Selectmen Dash enthusiastically seconded. BOS voted in favor of the motion.
The minutes record the result but no count or names.
From the minutes
“Vice Chair Paolillo moved to adopt the Town of Belmont's Complete Streets Program as presented by the Office of Community Development. Selectmen Dash enthusiastically seconded. BOS voted in favor of the motion..” (Motion: Paolillo)
Apr 2Accept the donation Temple Beth Elohim sixth and seventh…Motion: PM Acceptance of a donation from the Temple Beth Elohim sixth…Passed · see note
April 2, 2018: Accept the donation Temple Beth Elohim sixth and seventh grade students in the amount of $464.50 from the proceeds of their annual Purim Carnival to be used for the SPORT…
ApprovePassed · No count or names in the minutes
PM Acceptance of a donation from the Temple Beth Elohim sixth and seventh grade students in the amount of $464.50 from the proceeds of their annual Purim Carnival to be used for the SPORT (Special Programs Organized for Recreation Time) Program. e Purim Carnival: carnival that the students have for a charity and they have little games for the kids e SPORT Program: Belmont collaborates with other towns to provide sporting opportunities MONDAY, APRIL 02, 2018 BOARD OF SELECTMEN HOMER ART GALLERY, 19 MOORE STREET 7:00 P.M. Vice Chair Paolillo moved to accept the donation Temple Beth Elohim sixth and seventh grade students in the amount of $464.50 from the proceeds of their annual Purim Carnival to be used for the SPORT (Special Programs Organized for Recreation Time) Program. Selectman Dash seconded. BOS voted in favor of the motion.
The minutes record the result but no count or names.
From the minutes
“PM Acceptance of a donation from the Temple Beth Elohim sixth and seventh grade students in the amount of $464.50 from the proceeds of their annual Purim Carnival to be used for the SPORT (Special Programs Organized for Recreation Time) Program. e Purim Carnival: carnival that the students have for a charity and they have little games for the kids e SPORT Program: Belmont collaborates with other towns to provide sporting opportunities MONDAY, APRIL 02, 2018 BOARD OF SELECTMEN HOMER ART GALLERY, 19 MOORE STREET 7:00 P.M. Vice Chair Paolillo moved to accept the donation Temple Beth Elohim sixth and seventh grade students in the amount of $464.50 from the proceeds of their annual Purim Carnival to be used for the SPORT (Special Programs Organized for Recreation Time) Program. Selectman Dash seconded. BOS voted in favor of the motion..” (Motion: Paolillo, second: Dash)
Mar 26Approve the rule proposed by Selectman Dash on who…Motion: Selectman Dash's motion was still on the table. Chair Williams permitted…Passed 2–1 · No: Williams
March 26, 2018: Approve the rule proposed by Selectman Dash on who may call meetings of the Board, committees and commissions
ApprovePassed · 2–1
Selectman Dash's motion was still on the table. Chair Williams permitted a second. Vice Chair Paolillo seconded the motion. Selectmen Dash and Vice Chair Paolillo voted in favor / of the motion. Chair Williams voted in opposition of the motion.
Yes: Dash, PaolilloNo: WilliamsEarlier in the item the minutes say “Selectman Dash moved approval. Chair Williams did not call for a second.” After Town Counsel spoke, “Chair Williams permitted a second.” Dash and Paolillo voted in favor and Williams against.
From the minutes
“Selectman Dash's motion was still on the table. Chair Williams permitted a second. Vice Chair Paolillo seconded the motion. Selectmen Dash and Vice Chair Paolillo voted in favor / of the motion. Chair Williams voted in opposition of the motion..” (Motion: Dash, second: Paolillo)
Mar 26Approve the collective bargaining agreement between the Town of…Motion: Vice Chair Paolillo moved to approve the collective bargaining agreement between…Passed · see note
March 26, 2018: Approve the collective bargaining agreement between the Town of Belmont and the International Association of Firefighters, Local 1637 for the period July 1, 2017 thru June 30, 2020
ApprovePassed · No count or names in the minutes
Vice Chair Paolillo moved to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the Town of Belmont and the International Association of Firefighters, Local 1637 for the period July 1, 2017 thru June 30, 2020. Selectmen Dash seconded. The BOS voted in favor of the motion.
The minutes record the result but no count or names.
From the minutes
“Vice Chair Paolillo moved to approve the collective bargaining agreement between the Town of Belmont and the International Association of Firefighters, Local 1637 for the period July 1, 2017 thru June 30, 2020. Selectmen Dash seconded. The BOS voted in favor of the motion..” (Motion: Paolillo, second: Dash)
Mar 26Approve the Department of Public Works to execute a…Motion: 2 Carry In and Carry Out e Issue of illegal dumping…Passed · see note
March 26, 2018: Approve the Department of Public Works to execute a pilot : project at Joey's Park and Town Field for a period of 3 months for Carry In and Carry Out…
Mar 26Accept Nan Donald's resignation from the Human Rights 1…Motion: Vice Chair Paolillo moved to accept Nan Donald's resignation from the…Passed · see note
March 26, 2018: Accept Nan Donald's resignation from the Human Rights 1 Commission
ApprovePassed · No count or names in the minutes
Vice Chair Paolillo moved to accept Nan Donald's resignation from the Human Rights 1 Commission. Selectman Dash seconded. The BOS voted in favor of the motion.
The minutes record the result but no count or names.
From the minutes
“Vice Chair Paolillo moved to accept Nan Donald's resignation from the Human Rights 1 Commission. Selectman Dash seconded. The BOS voted in favor of the motion..” (Motion: Paolillo, second: Dash)
Mar 12Direct Town Administrator Garvin and the Police Chief to…Motion: Vice Chair Paolillo moved that we direct Town Administrator Garvin and…Passed · see note
March 12, 2018: Direct Town Administrator Garvin and the Police Chief to investigate the installation of a SRO in the Middle School including funding in collaboration with both the School Department and School...
ApprovePassed · No count or names in the minutes
Vice Chair Paolillo moved that we direct Town Administrator Garvin and the Police Chief to investigate the installation of a SRO in the Middle School including funding in collaboration with both the School Department and School Committee. Selectman Dash seconded. BOS voted in favor of the motion.
The minutes record the result but no count or names.
From the minutes
“Vice Chair Paolillo moved that we direct Town Administrator Garvin and the Police Chief to investigate the installation of a SRO in the Middle School including funding in collaboration with both the School Department and School Committee. Selectman Dash seconded. BOS voted in favor of the motion..” (Motion: Paolillo, second: Dash)
From the Belmont Select Board’s official minutes, posted in the town’s Agenda Center (Select Board). We check every vote against the Select Board members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials. Photos (the town’s website has no Select Board photos): The Belmontonian — Matthew Taylor and Carol Berberian (April 2026); Yates for Belmont campaign website — Taylor Yates. Cropped by MassVoter. Former members show initials.