MassVoter.com← DedhamMunicipal votes · 2024–2025 Board
Dedham Select Board
How the Dedham Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 5 Select Board members elected townwide for three-year terms. After the April 13, 2024 town election the board chose Dr. Teehan as Chair and Erin Boles Welsh as Vice-Chair on April 25, 2024 (“Motion carried”). Josh Donati resigned in June 2024 (his last meeting was June 13); the board had four members until Michelle Persson Reilly won the February 8, 2025 special election for the rest of the term. Her first meeting was February 18, 2025. Covers 22 meetings, April 25 to April 9, 2025.
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 budgetBoard years
Coming up
MassVoter can’t read Dedham’s meeting calendar automatically yet. See upcoming meetings on the official site →
Members
Vice-ChairErin Boles WelshVice Chair · Elected townwide · at 21 of 22 meetings
James MacDonaldMember · Elected townwide · at 21 of 22 meetings
Michelle ReillyMember · Elected townwide · at 5 of 5 meetings · from Feb 2025
Dimitria SullivanMember · Elected townwide · at 20 of 22 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: Dedham Select Board minutes (called the Board of Selectmen until early 2020) from January 11, 2018 through January 29, 2026, from the town’s Agendas and Minutes page. The town posts agendas for nearly every meeting, but many meetings have no minutes online: the gaps grow from 2022 on, only a handful of late-2025 meetings have minutes, and the town has posted minutes for only 2 of the 22 Select Board meetings held so far in 2026 (January 15 and January 29). We list every meeting without minutes, and MassVoter is asking the town for them. Older minutes were typed in Word; most minutes since 2021 are scanned images, which MassVoter read with text recognition and checked by hand. From 2018 to 2022 the minutes record a roll call by name for most votes, and we show each member’s vote. Most Dedham minutes since 2023 say only “On a motion made by …, it was resolved to … Motion carried,” so we show the result without guessing how each member voted, even when the minutes add “Roll call was done.” When the minutes call a vote unanimous or give a count with no one opposed, every member present is shown voting yes. When members chose between candidates for an appointment, we show the result and quote each member’s choice in a note. Votes taken by other boards at joint meetings (for example the Planning Board, Board of Health and Board of Assessors) are left out. 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.
Mar 27Close the meetingMotion: On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to…Passed · see note
March 27, 2025: Close the meeting
On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to close the meeting.
The minutes do not say who made this motion.
From the minutes
“On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to close the meeting..”
Feb 18Close the meetingMotion: On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to…Passed · see note
February 18, 2025: Close the meeting
On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to close the meeting.
The minutes do not say who made this motion.
From the minutes
“On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to close the meeting..”
Feb 6Approve the issuance of a second-hand dealer license to…Motion: Ona motion made by Mr. MacDonald, seconded by Ms. Sullivan, it…Passed · see note
February 6, 2025: Approve the issuance of a second-hand dealer license to EcoATM at Albertson Star Market
Ona motion made by Mr. MacDonald, seconded by Ms. Sullivan, it was voted to approve the issuance of a second-hand dealer license to EcoATM at Albertson Star Market. Motion carried.
The minutes name Dimitria Sullivan as the seconder, but Dimitria Sullivan is not shown as present, so no seconder is shown.
From the minutes
“Ona motion made by Mr. MacDonald, seconded by Ms. Sullivan, it was voted to approve the issuance of a second-hand dealer license to EcoATM at Albertson Star Market. Motion carried..” (Motion: James MacDonald)
Feb 6Close the meetingMotion: On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to…Passed · see note
February 6, 2025: Close the meeting
On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to close the meeting.
The minutes do not say who made this motion.
From the minutes
“On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to close the meeting..”
Jan 9Close the meetingMotion: On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to…Passed · see note
January 9, 2025: Close the meeting
On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to close the meeting.
The minutes do not say who made this motion.
From the minutes
“On a motion duly made and carried, it was voted to close the meeting..”
Nov 21Use the construction manager at risk delivery method for…Motion: On a motion made by Ms. Sullivan, seconded by Ms. Boles…Passed · see note
November 21, 2024: Use the construction manager at risk delivery method for the Oakdale elementary school project and further to authorize the time manager to execute the contracts related to the state
On a motion made by Ms. Sullivan, seconded by Ms. Boles Welsh, it was voted to use the construction manager at risk delivery method for the Oakdale elementary school project and further to authorize the time manager to execute the contracts related to the state. Mr. MacDonald abstained. Motion carried.
The minutes say James MacDonald abstained, but they give no count and do not record how the other members voted, so only the result is shown.
From the minutes
“On a motion made by Ms. Sullivan, seconded by Ms. Boles Welsh, it was voted to use the construction manager at risk delivery method for the Oakdale elementary school project and further to authorize the time manager to execute the contracts related to the state. Mr. MacDonald abstained. Motion carried..” (Motion: Sullivan, second: Welsh)
Aug 5Appoint Susan Carney to the PILOT Working GroupMotion: Ms. Sullivan, Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Teehan nominated Ms. Carney and…Passed · see note
August 5, 2024: Appoint Susan Carney to the PILOT Working Group
Ms. Sullivan, Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Teehan nominated Ms. Carney and Ms. Boles Welsh nominated Mr. Bossin. The motion carried (3-1) to appoint Ms. Susan Carney to PILOT Working Group.
Choice vote: “Ms. Sullivan, Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Teehan nominated Ms. Carney and Ms. Boles Welsh nominated Mr. Bossin. The motion carried (3-1) to appoint Ms. Susan Carney.” We show the result only.
From the minutes
“Ms. Sullivan, Mr. MacDonald and Mr. Teehan nominated Ms. Carney and Ms. Boles Welsh nominated Mr. Bossin. The motion carried (3-1) to appoint Ms. Susan Carney to PILOT Working Group..”
Aug 5Appoint Scott Steves as the master builder and construction…Motion: On a motion duly made, it was agreed to appoint Scott…Passed Unanimous, 4 present · see note
August 5, 2024: Appoint Scott Steves as the master builder and construction super to the Zoning Board of Appeals
On a motion duly made, it was agreed to appoint Scott Steves as the master builder and construction super to the Zoning Board of Appeals. All in favor. Motion carried.
The minutes do not say who made this motion.
From the minutes
“On a motion duly made, it was agreed to appoint Scott Steves as the master builder and construction super to the Zoning Board of Appeals. All in favor. Motion carried..”
Aug 5Appoint Thomas Ryan as the attorney to the Zoning…Motion: On a motion duly made, it was agreed to appoint Thomas…Passed Unanimous, 4 present · see note
August 5, 2024: Appoint Thomas Ryan as the attorney to the Zoning Board of Appeals
On a motion duly made, it was agreed to appoint Thomas Ryan as the attorney to the Zoning Board of Appeals. All in favor. Motion carried.
The minutes do not say who made this motion.
From the minutes
“On a motion duly made, it was agreed to appoint Thomas Ryan as the attorney to the Zoning Board of Appeals. All in favor. Motion carried..”
Aug 5Appoint Sara Rosenthal as the architect to the Zoning…Motion: On a motion duly made, it was agreed to appoint Sara…Passed Unanimous, 4 present · see note
August 5, 2024: Appoint Sara Rosenthal as the architect to the Zoning Board of Appeals
On a motion duly made, it was agreed to appoint Sara Rosenthal as the architect to the Zoning Board of Appeals. All in favor. Motion carried.
The minutes do not say who made this motion.
From the minutes
“On a motion duly made, it was agreed to appoint Sara Rosenthal as the architect to the Zoning Board of Appeals. All in favor. Motion carried..”
From the Dedham Select Board’s official minutes, posted on the town’s Agendas and Minutes page. We check every vote against the Select Board members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials. Photos: Stephen Acosta from Dedham Public Schools (School Committee page); Dimitria Sullivan and Erin Boles Welsh from Dedham Patch (2022 candidate profiles); Michelle Persson Reilly from her campaign website; James MacDonald from the Massachusetts School Building Authority staff page.
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