How the Natick Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 5 Select Board members elected townwide for three-year terms. Jonathan Freedman served as Chairman, Susan Salamoff as Vice Chair and Richard Jennett as Clerk, with Michael Hickey and Amy Mistrot. MassVoter’s record starts with the January 16, 2018 meeting. The board was then called the Board of Selectmen. Covers 8 meetings, January 16 to March 19, 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.
In Natick, 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.
Spring Annual Town Meeting, April 30 session (electronic votes only) · April 30, 2026 10 votes: 10 passed
Not here yet: Natick's 2026 Spring Annual Town Meeting has no Town Clerk minutes posted yet, so only its electronic votes from April 28 and April 30, 2026 are here; the 2026 Fall Annual Town Meeting starts October 20, 2026.
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: Natick Select Board minutes from January 16, 2018 through August 11, 2026: 339 meetings and 2,671 votes. The town posts the board’s minutes on yearly pages (2013–2026) linked from its Minutes page; MassVoter loaded January 2018 on. The board was the Board of Selectmen until 2020; its minutes are headed “Select Board” from July 15, 2020. The minutes are typed documents with searchable text. A few files carry the wrong date: two 2026 files are titled “February 25, 2025” and “February 4, 2025,” and others repeat an earlier meeting’s date in the heading (the May 27, 2026 minutes are headed May 13; the July 9, 2026 minutes are headed July 8). MassVoter dated each meeting from its contents and the town’s meeting list. Not here: executive-session minutes (27 released executive-session files on the yearly pages are not loaded); the votes of the School Committee and other boards at joint meetings; and meetings on the town’s video and agenda list (Granicus) with no minutes posted – about 150 sessions from 2018 to September 2026, some of them executive-session-only meetings, site walks or events where no business was done, and, since July 2025, the meetings of July 14 and October 7, 2025 (a workshop on the Johnson School), March 9 and May 6, 2026 (board retreats) and June 24, 2026. MassVoter is asking the town for the missing minutes. Minutes after August 11, 2026 are not posted yet (July 22, August 18, August 19, August 24, September 2 (two sessions), September 9, September 16 and September 30, 2026). Natick’s minutes name the mover and seconder; most votes read “The motion passed unanimously” or give a count (“Motion approved 5-0-0”), shown as every member present voting yes when the count equals the members present. Roll calls by name (the 2020–2021 remote meetings and many 2025–2026 votes: “Roll call vote: Ms. Coughlin: Yes, Mr. Sidney: Yes, …”) are shown by name; split votes usually name the members who voted no or abstained (“Motion passed 4-1-0 … with Ms. Coughlin opposed”), shown with the other members present voting yes. Where the count does not fit the members present or the minutes do not say who voted no or abstained (“4-0-1”), we show the count only (23 votes); where the minutes give no count and no unanimity wording, and for choices between candidates by ballot, we show the result only (51 votes). Failed motions are shown member by member when the minutes name the voters (6 failed votes). Members who arrived late or left early are not shown in the votes they missed. 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.
Mar 14Choose Melissa Malone as Town Administrator (ballot vote)Motion: By a 4-1 ballot vote, Ms. Malone was chosen as the…Passed · see note
March 14, 2018: Choose Melissa Malone as Town Administrator (ballot vote)
AppointPassed · No count or names in the minutes
By a 4-1 ballot vote, Ms. Malone was chosen as the new Town Administrator.
A choice between candidates by ballot, so it is shown as the result only. The minutes list the ballots: Ms. Mistrot, Mr. Hickey, Ms. Salamoff and Mr. Freedman voted for Ms. Malone, and Mr. Jennett for Mr. Chenard (“By a 4-1 ballot vote, Ms. Malone was chosen as the new Town Administrator”). The minutes do not say who made this motion. The minutes do not name a seconder.
From the minutes
“By a 4-1 ballot vote, Ms. Malone was chosen as the new Town Administrator..”
Feb 26Recommend favorable action with the revisions as noted by…Motion: Moved by Ms. Salamoff and seconded by Mr. Hickey, the Board…Passed 3–0 · see note
February 26, 2018: Recommend favorable action with the revisions as noted by Ms. Salamoff
ApprovePassed · 3–0
Moved by Ms. Salamoff and seconded by Mr. Hickey, the Board voted 3-0-0 to recommend favorable action with the revisions as noted by Ms. Salamoff.
Yes: Freedman, Hickey, SalamoffAmy K. Mistrot had left the meeting at 11:00 p.m. before this vote and is not shown voting.
From the minutes
“Moved by Ms. Salamoff and seconded by Mr. Hickey, the Board voted 3-0-0 to recommend favorable action with the revisions as noted by Ms. Salamoff..” (Motion: Salamoff, second: Hickey)
Feb 26Change the composition of the committee, making it an…Motion: Moved by Ms. Salamoff and seconded by Mr. Hickey, the Board…Passed 3–0 · see note
February 26, 2018: Change the composition of the committee, making it an 11-person committee with four members at large
ApprovePassed · 3–0
Moved by Ms. Salamoff and seconded by Mr. Hickey, the Board voted 3-0-0 to change the composition of the committee, making it an 11-person committee with four members at large.
Yes: Freedman, Hickey, SalamoffAmy K. Mistrot had left the meeting at 11:00 p.m. before this vote and is not shown voting.
From the minutes
“Moved by Ms. Salamoff and seconded by Mr. Hickey, the Board voted 3-0-0 to change the composition of the committee, making it an 11-person committee with four members at large..” (Motion: Salamoff, second: Hickey)
Feb 26Appoint Rick White as a citizen-at-large committee memberMotion: On an additional motion by Mr. Hickey, seconded by Ms. Salamoff,…Passed 3–0 · see note
February 26, 2018: Appoint Rick White as a citizen-at-large committee member
AppointPassed · 3–0
On an additional motion by Mr. Hickey, seconded by Ms. Salamoff, the Board voted 3-0-0 to appoint Rick White as a citizen-at-large committee member.
Yes: Freedman, Hickey, SalamoffAmy K. Mistrot had left the meeting at 11:00 p.m. before this vote and is not shown voting.
From the minutes
“On an additional motion by Mr. Hickey, seconded by Ms. Salamoff, the Board voted 3-0-0 to appoint Rick White as a citizen-at-large committee member..” (Motion: Hickey, second: Salamoff)
Jan 16Support opposition to a reduction in the sales taxMotion: b. Resolution in opposition to the ballot question that would reduce…Passed 4–1 · No: Hickey
January 16, 2018: Support opposition to a reduction in the sales tax
Adopt resolutionPassed · 4–1
B. Resolution in opposition to the ballot question that would reduce the sales and use tax rate: Moved by Ms. Salamoff and seconded by Mr. Jennett, the Board vote 4-1-0, with Mr. Hickey casting the dissenting vote (citing the need for input from retailers,) to support opposition to a reduction in the sales tax.
Yes: Freedman, Jennett, Mistrot, SalamoffNo: HickeyThe minutes give the count as 4-1-0 and name the exception (“Mr. Hickey casting the dissenting”); the other members present are shown voting yes.
From the minutes
“b. Resolution in opposition to the ballot question that would reduce the sales and use tax rate: Moved by Ms. Salamoff and seconded by Mr. Jennett, the Board vote 4-1-0, with Mr. Hickey casting the dissenting vote (citing the need for input from retailers,) to support opposition to a reduction in the sales tax..” (Motion: Salamoff, second: Jennett)
From the Natick Select Board’s official minutes, posted on the yearly minutes pages linked from the town’s Minutes page. 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): Natick Report — Kristen Pope and Cody Jacobs (March 2026), Bruce Evans (March 2025) and Linda Wollschlager (March 2024 swearing-in, captioned); Natick Patch — Kathryn Coughlin (March 2022, courtesy of the candidate). Cropped by MassVoter. Former members show initials.