How the Holliston Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 3 Select Board members elected townwide for three-year terms. John Cronin served as Chair, Tina Hein as Vice Chair and Benjamin Sparrell as Clerk. The town’s Agenda Center has this board’s minutes only from January 3, 2024 on (nothing earlier is online), so MassVoter’s record starts then. John Cronin’s last meeting was May 6, 2024. Covers 19 meetings, January 3 to May 6, 2024.
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.
Under the state Open Meeting Law, boards post notice at least 48 hours ahead, not counting weekends and legal holidays.
What Town Meeting decided
In Holliston, 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 11, 2026 30 votes: 24 passed, 4 passed as amended, 1 indefinitely postponed, 1 other
Not here yet: The October 19, 2026 Fall 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: Holliston Select Board minutes from January 3, 2024 through August 24, 2026: 87 meetings and 723 votes. The town’s Agenda Center has the board’s minutes only from January 2024 on; minutes from earlier years were on the town’s previous website and are no longer online, and the Archive Center has none. One file (March 10, 2025) is a scanned image, which MassVoter read with text recognition and checked; all other minutes are typed documents with searchable text. Not here: executive-session minutes; cancelled meetings; votes of the School Committee, Finance Committee and Board of Assessors at joint meetings (only the Select Board members’ votes in joint roll calls are shown); meetings with an agenda but no posted minutes (budget meetings on February 17, 2024, March 1, 2025 and February 28, 2026; the board’s short meetings on Town Meeting nights in May, June and October 2024, May and October 2025 and May 11, 2026; the November 4 and November 12, 2024 meetings, whose minutes were approved on January 27, 2025 but are not posted; the April 11, 2025 Town Manager interviews; and the March 20, 2025 public meeting after the Pinecrest site visit); and meetings after August 24, 2026 (the August 28, September 14 and September 28, 2026 minutes are not posted yet). Holliston’s minutes record each vote as a count after the motion and seconder (“B. Sparrell made a motion … T. Hein second. Vote 3-0.”); a count that equals the members present is shown as each of them voting yes. When a member votes no the minutes name the member (“Vote 2-0-1. J. Cronin opposed.”), which is shown by name; the third number in that count is the no vote, and in 2025 and 2026 the same form marks a member who abstained. When a member is away the count is “Vote 2-0” with the member named as absent. Public hearings, remote members and joint appointments use roll calls by name. Members who abstained are shown as abstaining; members who recused themselves, had left the meeting or are recorded as absent are not shown in those votes. Where the count and the members present do not match, we show the count only (3 votes). A motion with no recorded outcome, or one that died for lack of a second, 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 24Approve and authorize $750,000 to be set aside for…Motion: B. Sparrell made a motion to approve and authorize $750,000 to…Passed 2–1 · No: Cronin
April 24, 2024: Approve and authorize $750,000 to be set aside for a Special Education cost for a Warrant Article on the May 2024 Annual Town Meeting
ApprovePassed · 2–1
B. Sparrell made a motion to approve and authorize $750,000 to be set aside for a Special Education cost for a Warrant Article on the May 2024 Annual Town Meeting. T. Hein second. J. Cronin opposed. Vote 2-0-1.
Yes: Hein, SparrellNo: CroninThe minutes record “J. Cronin opposed. Vote 2-0-1.”; John Cronin is shown voting no and the other members present yes. (The third number in this count is the no vote, as the minutes name him as opposed.)
From the minutes
“B. Sparrell made a motion to approve and authorize $750,000 to be set aside for a Special Education cost for a Warrant Article on the May 2024 Annual Town Meeting. T. Hein second. J. Cronin opposed. Vote 2-0-1..” (Motion: Sparrell, second: Hein)
Apr 24Approve Article #28, Library Grant Match as presentedMotion: B. Sparrell made a motion to approve Article #28, Library Grant…Passed 2–1 · No: Cronin
April 24, 2024: Approve Article #28, Library Grant Match as presented
ApprovePassed · 2–1
B. Sparrell made a motion to approve Article #28, Library Grant Match as presented. T. Hein second. J. Cronin opposed. Vote 2-0-1.
Yes: Hein, SparrellNo: CroninThe minutes record “J. Cronin opposed. Vote 2-0-1.”; John Cronin is shown voting no and the other members present yes. (The third number in this count is the no vote, as the minutes name him as opposed.)
From the minutes
“B. Sparrell made a motion to approve Article #28, Library Grant Match as presented. T. Hein second. J. Cronin opposed. Vote 2-0-1..” (Motion: Sparrell, second: Hein)
Mar 25Approve a One Day Beer & Wine License for…Motion: T. Hein made a motion to approve a One Day Beer…Passed Unanimous, 2 present · see note
March 25, 2024: Approve a One Day Beer & Wine License for the Memorial Day Event on May 27, 2024 form 11:00am - 3:00pm for the Holliston Lions Club at the Historical Society
ApprovePassed · Unanimous, 2 present
T. Hein made a motion to approve a One Day Beer & Wine License for the Memorial Day Event on May 27, 2024 form 11:00am - 3:00pm for the Holliston Lions Club at the Historical Society. J. Cronin second. Vote 2-0. B. Sparrell second. Vote 2-0. B. Sparrell absent.
After “J. Cronin second. Vote 2-0.” the minutes repeat “B. Sparrell second. Vote 2-0.”, although B. Sparrell is listed as absent for the whole meeting; J. Cronin is shown as the seconder. The result is printed twice in the minutes (“B. Sparrell second. Vote 2-0.”).
From the minutes
“T. Hein made a motion to approve a One Day Beer & Wine License for the Memorial Day Event on May 27, 2024 form 11:00am - 3:00pm for the Holliston Lions Club at the Historical Society. J. Cronin second. Vote 2-0. B. Sparrell second. Vote 2-0. B. Sparrell absent..” (Motion: Hein, second: Cronin)
Mar 18Approve the ambulance rate proposals, as presentedMotion: T. Hein made a motion to approve the ambulance rate proposals,…Passed 2–1 · No: Cronin
March 18, 2024: Approve the ambulance rate proposals, as presented
ApprovePassed · 2–1
T. Hein made a motion to approve the ambulance rate proposals, as presented. B. Sparrell second. Vote 2-0-1. J. Cronin opposed.
Yes: Hein, SparrellNo: CroninThe minutes record “Vote 2-0-1. J. Cronin opposed.”; John Cronin is shown voting no and the other members present yes. (The third number in this count is the no vote, as the minutes name him as opposed.)
From the minutes
“T. Hein made a motion to approve the ambulance rate proposals, as presented. B. Sparrell second. Vote 2-0-1. J. Cronin opposed..” (Motion: Hein, second: Sparrell)
Jan 17Approve the Senior Tax Work Off Program and the…Motion: B. Sparrell made a motion to approve the Senior Tax Work…Passed 3–0 · see note
January 17, 2024: Approve the Senior Tax Work Off Program and the Veterans Tax Work Off Program as amended and presented this evening
ApprovePassed · 3–0
B. Sparrell made a motion to approve the Senior Tax Work Off Program and the Veterans Tax Work Off Program as amended and presented this evening. T. Hein second. Vote 3-0. J. Cronin absent.
The minutes record “Vote 3-0. J. Cronin absent.” John Cronin is listed as absent for the whole meeting and only two members were present, so the count and the members present do not match; the count only is shown.
From the minutes
“B. Sparrell made a motion to approve the Senior Tax Work Off Program and the Veterans Tax Work Off Program as amended and presented this evening. T. Hein second. Vote 3-0. J. Cronin absent..” (Motion: Sparrell, second: Hein)
From the Holliston Select Board’s official minutes, posted in the town’s Agenda Center (Select Board). We check every vote against the members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials. Photos (the town’s website has no Select Board photos): Holliston Reporter — Tina Hein (candidate photo, May 2025); Holliston Hub (HCAT) “Just Thinking” candidate videos — Benjamin Sparrell (2026) and Damon Dimmick. Cropped by MassVoter. Former members show initials.