How the Brewster Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 5 Select Board members elected townwide. Pete Dahl and Caroline McCarley joined the board after the May 20, 2025 town election; David Whitney and Cynthia Bingham left. On June 2, 2025 the board chose Mary Chaffee as Chair, Amanda Bebrin as Vice Chair and Ned Chatelain as Clerk. Covers 32 meetings, June 2 to May 11, 2026.
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.
In Brewster, 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. Any registered voter can take part, and most votes are by voice or show of hands, so there is no list of who voted which way.
Annual Town Meeting · May 4, 2026 29 votes: 27 passed, 1 passed as amended, 1 indefinitely postponed
Art. 12Acquire land at 0 W.H. Besse Cartway: $275,000 from CPA open space reserves (reconsidered; eminent domain struck)Passed as amended“Adopted by a unanimous vote.”
Art. 8Acquire a conservation restriction on about 20-22 acres at 379 Main Street, Harwich: $300,000 (eminent domain struck)Passed as amended“Adopted by a unanimous vote.”
Art. 18Petition: fund a town-wide Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan (estimated $300,000)Indefinitely postponed“Adopted to Indefinitely Postpone.”
Art. 19Petition: non-binding resolution supporting Medicare for All legislationAdvisory“Adopted by a majority vote.”
Art. 20Approve a Nauset Regional School District Special Education Stabilization FundPassed“Adopted by a majority vote.”
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: every Select Board meeting from January 2018 through August 31, 2026 whose minutes are posted in the town’s online records archive (Laserfiche), 338 meetings in all, including 29 closed (executive session) meetings from 2020-2021 whose minutes the board has since released. Not here: 50 meetings since January 2018 that have an agenda but no minutes in the archive (including September 14, 2026 and September 28, 2026), and separate executive-session minutes for meetings whose open-session minutes are loaded (the vote to go into executive session is in the open-session minutes). Brewster’s minutes are scanned paper copies with a computer-read text layer; we read that text (and, for five files with a missing or unreadable text layer, our own text recognition), and checked split votes against the page images. The minutes name the mover and seconder of each motion and give the result as a count (for example 5-0); from 2020 to 2024 most votes are also roll calls with each member’s yes or no by name. When the count equals the number of members present and no one voted no, or the minutes say all members voted in favor, we show every member present as voting yes; when the minutes give a roll call, or name the members who voted no or abstained, we show each member’s vote as recorded. Where the minutes give only a count with no names (for example 4-1), or the count does not match the members present, or a roll call lists a member the minutes show as absent or lists a member twice, we show the count only and add a note. Votes where the minutes give no count and no names are shown as result only. Members who had not yet arrived, had left, or stepped aside (recused) are left out of that vote. Votes by other boards at joint meetings (Finance Committee, Board of Health, Planning Board, Conservation Commission and others) are not included. We will ask the town to confirm any noted vote.
The minutes give only the count (4-1), not how each member voted.
From the minutes
“Selectperson Chatelain moved to recommend Article 5 to Town Meeting. Selectperson Bebrin seconded the motion. The vote was 4- Yes, 1- No.” (Motion: Chatelain, second: Bebrin)
The minutes give the vote as 4-0, but 5 members were present for this vote (Mary Chaffee, Amanda Bebrin, Ned Chatelain, Pete Dahl and Caroline McCarley). Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“Selectperson Chatelain moved to recommend Article 25 to Town Meeting. Selectperson McCarley seconded the motion. All Select Board members voted in favor of the motion, 4- Yes, 0- No.” (Motion: Chatelain, second: McCarley)
Apr 6Recommend Article 28: Citizens Petition to revise the Sea…Motion: to recommend Article 28: Citizens Petition to revise the Sea Camps…Failed 1–4 · see note
April 6, 2026: Recommend Article 28: Citizens Petition to revise the Sea Camps Pond Property Comprehensive Plan to Town Meeting
ApproveFailed · 1–4
To recommend Article 28: Citizens Petition to revise the Sea Camps Pond Property Comprehensive Plan to Town Meeting
The minutes give only the count (1-4), not how each member voted.
From the minutes
“Selectperson Chatelain moved to recommend Article 28: Citizens Petition to revise the Sea Camps Pond Property Comprehensive Plan to Town Meeting. Selectperson Bebrin seconded the motion. The vote was 1- yes, 4- no.” (Motion: Chatelain, second: Bebrin)
Apr 6Recommend Article 29: Citizens Petition to transfer the care,…Motion: to recommend Article 29: Citizens Petition to transfer the care, custody,…Failed 1–4 · see note
April 6, 2026: Recommend Article 29: Citizens Petition to transfer the care, custody, and control of the Sea Camps Pond Property Comprehensive Plan to Town Meeting
ApproveFailed · 1–4
To recommend Article 29: Citizens Petition to transfer the care, custody, and control of the Sea Camps Pond Property Comprehensive Plan to Town Meeting
The minutes give only the count (1-4), not how each member voted.
From the minutes
“Selectperson Chatelain moved to recommend Article 29: Citizens Petition to transfer the care, custody, and control of the Sea Camps Pond Property Comprehensive Plan to Town Meeting, Selectperson Bebrin seconded the motion. The vote was 1- yes, 4- no.” (Motion: Chatelain, second: Bebrin)
Mar 30Recommend CPC item 5A— Lower Cape Housing Institute fundingMotion: to recommend CPC item 5A— Lower Cape Housing Institute fundingPassed 3–0 · see note
March 30, 2026: Recommend CPC item 5A— Lower Cape Housing Institute funding
ApprovePassed · 3–0
To recommend CPC item 5A— Lower Cape Housing Institute funding
The minutes give the vote as 3-0, but 4 members were present for this vote (Amanda Bebrin, Pete Dahl, Caroline McCarley and Ned Chatelain). Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“Selectperson Dahl moved to recommend CPC item 5A— Lower Cape Housing Institute funding, Selectperson Chatelain second the motion. A roll call vote was taken, Dahl -yes, Bebrin- yes, Chatelain- yes. The vote passed, 3- Yes, 0- No.” (Motion: Dahl, second: Chatelain)
Mar 23Move approval of the consent agenda as presentedMotion: Move approval of the consent agenda as presentedPassed 5–0 · see note
March 23, 2026: Move approval of the consent agenda as presented
ApprovePassed · 5–0
Move approval of the consent agenda as presented
The minutes give the vote as 5-0, but 4 members were present for this vote (Mary Chaffee, Amanda Bebrin, Pete Dahl and Caroline McCarley). Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“Selectperson McCarley moved approval of the consent agenda as presented. Selectperson Bebrin seconded the motion. All Select Board members voted in favor of the motion, 5- Yes, 0- No.” (Motion: McCarley, second: Bebrin)
The minutes give the vote as 5-0, but 4 members were present for this vote (Mary Chaffee, Amanda Bebrin, Pete Dahl and Caroline McCarley). Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“Selectperson Bebrin moved to recommend the Cape Cod Tech FY27 Budget. Selectperson McCarley seconded. All Select Board members voted in favor of the motion. The vote was 5- Yes, 0- No.” (Motion: Bebrin, second: McCarley)
Mar 23Recommend the FY27 Brewster Elementary Schools Budget, $ 13,…Motion: to recommend the FY27 Brewster Elementary Schools Budget, $ 13, 982,…Passed 5–0 · see note
March 23, 2026: Recommend the FY27 Brewster Elementary Schools Budget, $ 13, 982, 339, to the Spring Town Meeting 2026 Warrant
ApprovePassed · 5–0
To recommend the FY27 Brewster Elementary Schools Budget, $ 13, 982, 339, to the Spring Town Meeting 2026 Warrant
The minutes give the vote as 5-0, but 4 members were present for this vote (Mary Chaffee, Amanda Bebrin, Pete Dahl and Caroline McCarley). Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“Selectperson Bebrin moved to recommend the FY27 Brewster Elementary Schools Budget, $ 13, 982, 339, to the Spring Town Meeting 2026 Warrant. Selectperson McCarley seconded. All Select Board members voted in favor of the motion. The vote was 5- Yes, 0- No.” (Motion: Bebrin, second: McCarley)
Mar 23Recommend Brewster' s Assessment of the FY27 Nauset Regional…Motion: to recommend Brewster' s Assessment of the FY27 Nauset Regional School…Passed 3–1 · No: Dahl
March 23, 2026: Recommend Brewster' s Assessment of the FY27 Nauset Regional School District Budget, $ 18, 776, 412, to the Spring Town Meeting 2026 Warrant
ApprovePassed · 3–1
To recommend Brewster' s Assessment of the FY27 Nauset Regional School District Budget, $ 18, 776, 412, to the Spring Town Meeting 2026 Warrant
Yes: Bebrin, Chaffee, McCarleyNo: DahlThe minutes call this vote unanimous but give the count 3-1 and name the member voting no.
From the minutes
“Selectperson Bebrin moved to recommend Brewster' s Assessment of the FY27 Nauset Regional School District Budget, $ 18, 776, 412, to the Spring Town Meeting 2026 Warrant. Selectperson McCarley seconded. All Select Board members voted in favor of the motion. The vote was 3- Yes, 1- No, with Selectperson Dahl opposed..” (Motion: Bebrin, second: McCarley)
Mar 23Recommend the Select Board/ Town Manager Short Term Rental…Motion: to recommend the Select Board/ Town Manager Short Term Rental Registration…Passed 3–0 · see note
March 23, 2026: Recommend the Select Board/ Town Manager Short Term Rental Registration & Inspections - Professional Services capital item, to the Spring Town Meeting 2026 Warrant
ApprovePassed · 3–0
To recommend the Select Board/ Town Manager Short Term Rental Registration & Inspections - Professional Services capital item, to the Spring Town Meeting 2026 Warrant
The minutes give only the count (3-0-1), not how each member voted. They also say all members voted in favor.
From the minutes
“Selectperson Bebrin moved to recommend the Select Board/ Town Manager Short Term Rental Registration & Inspections - Professional Services capital item, to the Spring Town Meeting 2026 Warrant. Selectperson McCarley seconded. All Select Board members voted in favor of the motion. The vote was 3-Yes, 0- No, 1- abstain.” (Motion: Bebrin, second: McCarley)
From the Brewster Select Board’s official minutes, posted in the town’s online records archive. We check every vote against the Select Board members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials. Photos: Town of Brewster (Select Board and Staff Biographies page).