MassVoter.com← FoxboroughMunicipal votes · 2020–2021 Board
Foxborough Select Board
How the Foxborough Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 5 Select Board members elected townwide. Stephanie McGowan joined the board after the June 2020 town election (held later than usual because of COVID-19); David S. Feldman left. On June 9, 2020 the board chose Mark S. Elfman as Chairman (three members voted for Elfman and two for Leah Gibson), Edward T. O’Leary as Vice Chairman and Stephanie McGowan as Clerk. Covers 27 meetings, June 9 to April 27, 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 Foxborough ballot: 13 quizzes, about a minute each.
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Members
ChairMark S. ElfmanChair · Elected townwide · at 27 of 27 meetingsVice-ChairEdward T. O’LearyVice Chair · Elected townwide · at 27 of 27 meetings
Stephanie A. McGowanClerk · Elected townwide · at 26 of 27 meetingsChristopher P. MitchellMember · Elected townwide · at 26 of 27 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: Select Board minutes (called the Board of Selectmen until early 2023) from January 9, 2018 through September 22, 2026: 232 meetings. Minutes from 2018 through September 8, 2026 come from the town website’s Select Board minutes page, which holds minutes back to 2009 (MassVoter has loaded 2018 on); the September 22, 2026 minutes are the draft posted on the board’s Diligent meeting portal and have not yet been approved. Joint sessions are included, but only the Select Board’s own votes; votes of the Board of Health and the Planning Board at joint sessions are left out. Not here: executive-session minutes; minutes for 148 other dates the Diligent portal lists for the board since 2018 (about 115 of them are notices that a quorum of the board would attend another body’s meeting, mostly the Advisory Committee’s budget hearings, or a public event; the rest are mostly short sessions before Town Meeting, executive sessions and town manager interviews); and every meeting after September 22, 2026. All minutes are typed. Foxborough’s minutes give the mover and seconder for nearly every motion. In 2018 and 2019 they say “Final Resolution: Motion Carries 5-0-0” (sometimes with a list of the members voting yes); from 2019 to mid-2024 they usually say “by S. Ferguson, 2nd by M. Elfman. Approved, 5-0,” with roll calls by name during remote meetings; since September 2024 each vote lists the members by name (“Yes: Stephanie McGowan, Bill Yukna … / No: … / Not Present at Vote: …”). When the minutes list the vote by name, we show it that way. When they give a count with no dissent that matches the members present, or say every member voted in favor, we show every member present as voting yes, and when they name the members who voted no or abstained and the count adds up, everyone else present as voting yes. Where the minutes give only a split count without names, a list that leaves out a member who was there or does not match the count, or a count that does not match the members present, we show the count only and add a note. Votes with no count written down are shown with the result only. Members who stepped aside (recused), were not present for a vote, or had left are left out of that vote. Some minutes (September 2024 to May 2025, and three meetings in 2026) have no attendance list; for those, the members shown as present are the ones named in the 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 27Approve a $500 fee for 30, 1-day licenses for…Motion: Motion to approve a $500 fee for 30, 1-day licenses for…Passed 3–1 · No: Gibson
April 27, 2021: Approve a $500 fee for 30, 1-day licenses for Shovel Town temporary pop-up Brewery d/b/a A Taste of Foxborough operating under the Governor’s Executive Order
Motion to approve a $500 fee for 30, 1-day licenses for Shovel Town temporary pop-up Brewery d/b/a A Taste of Foxborough operating under the Governor’s Executive Order
Yes: Elfman, Mitchell, O’LearyNo: Gibson
From the minutes
“Motion to approve a $500 fee for 30, 1-day licenses for Shovel Town temporary pop-up Brewery d/b/a A Taste of Foxborough operating under the Governor’s Executive Order by L. Gibson 2nd by C. Mitchell. Discussion: LG – Do we want to put a cap overall so it’s not for just one business. BK – This is a temporary pop-up, you can add the Covid language you could. CM – I think we should address it because it’s for multiple. BK – I would caution you to not do that tonight as you would have to add it as an agenda item. Approved 3-1. L. Gibson opposed..” (Motion: Gibson, second: Mitchell)
Mar 30Recommend the Annual Town Meeting Article 26 as amendedMotion: Motion to recommend the Annual Town Meeting Article 26 as amendedFailed 2–3 · No: Elfman, Mitchell, O’Leary
March 30, 2021: Recommend the Annual Town Meeting Article 26 as amended
Motion to recommend the Annual Town Meeting Article 26 as amended
Yes: Gibson, McGowanNo: Elfman, Mitchell, O’Leary
From the minutes
“Motion to recommend the Annual Town Meeting Article 26 as amended by S. McGowan, 2nd by C. Mitchell. Discussion: ME – I don’t think we need this. It is another layer of oversight that we don’t need with CIP and Advisory Committee. CM – They are talking about people on the CIP Committee who if they lived in town, they would have no problem. Those two members are subject matter experts and we know for five years what is on the CIP plan for the 5 years. I don’t believe it needs another layer of review. SM – I respectfully disagree. This was brought forward by a different person this time and last time it was approved to move forward last time. The merit to this article is that no employee will be on the CIP Committtee. The arguments are who would know the budgets better than the person presenting it but to that what does the School Superintendent know about DPW and vice versa. CM – They work hand in hand every day. SM – You are asking that person to vote on something they don’t have the expertise on. The merit of the article to have an independent review committee. I wanted to make sure that there is a lot of meat to that article. The process isn’t perfect and I’m not sure we are following the bylaw of who should be on the committee. LG – I usually have strong opinions but on this I’m in the middle. I don’t think it’s broken but I have had people contact me about it. I will support it and let it go to town meeting and the citizens decide. EO – I think mentioning that people will make up their own mind on what’s best for the community and it will be a vote at town meeting and it will be critical and necessary and that is what each of us are trying to do for this community. Opposed, 2-3. Selectmen Elfman, Mitchell and O’Leary against..” (Motion: McGowan, second: Mitchell)
Mar 16Approve the FY22 CIP budget as proposed by the…Motion: Motion to approve the FY22 CIP budget as proposed by the…Passed 4–1 · No: McGowan
March 16, 2021: Approve the FY22 CIP budget as proposed by the CIP Committee
Motion to approve the FY22 CIP budget as proposed by the CIP Committee
Yes: Elfman, Gibson, Mitchell, O’LearyNo: McGowan
From the minutes
“Motion to approve the FY22 CIP budget as proposed by the CIP Committee by S. McGowan, 2nd by C. Mitchell. Roll Call Vote: Roll Call: CM – Yes, SM – No, ME – Yes, EO – Yes, LG – Yes. Approved 4-1..” (Motion: McGowan, second: Mitchell)
Jun 9Choose the Chair of the Board of Selectmen (nominees…Motion: Choose the Chair of the Board of Selectmen (nominees Mark Elfman…Passed · see note
June 9, 2020: Choose the Chair of the Board of Selectmen (nominees Mark Elfman and Leah Gibson)
Choose the Chair of the Board of Selectmen (nominees Mark Elfman and Leah Gibson)
The minutes record a choice between two nominees, not a yes-or-no vote: “Mark Elfman, Ed O’Leary and Chris Mitchell vote for Mark Elfman” and “Leah Gibson and Stephanie McGowan vote for Leah Gibson.” Mark Elfman was chosen. Showing the result only.
From the minutes
“All in favor of Mark for Chair – Mark Elfman, Ed O’Leary and Chris Mitchell vote for Mark Elfman. All in favor of Leah for Chair – Leah Gibson and Stephanie McGowan vote for Leah Gibson. Mark Elfman voted in as Chairman of the Board of Selectmen..”
From the Foxborough Select Board’s official minutes, posted on the town’s Select Board minutes page and its Diligent meeting portal. We check every vote against the Select Board members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials. Photos: WJAR NBC 10 (Bill Yukna), The Foxboro Reporter, photo by Mark Stockwell (Amy LaBrache), The Sun Chronicle (Mark Elfman), and stills from Foxboro Cable Access videos: “Around Foxborough #44 – Stephanie McGowan for the Foxborough Board of Selectmen” (2020) and the Foxboro Jaycees Candidates Night, April 11, 2024 (Deb Giardino).
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