MassVoter.com← NorwellMunicipal votes · 2026–2027 Board
Norwell Select Board
How the Norwell Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 5 Select Board members elected townwide. Same five members after the May 2026 election. On May 27, 2026 the board chose Brian M. Greenberg as Chair, Lorenda Layne as Vice Chair and John McGrath as Clerk. Minutes are loaded through the Sept. 16, 2026 meeting. Covers 9 meetings so far, May 27 to September 16, 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.
Sources: Massachusetts Select Board Handbook (MMA) · Mass. Division of Local Services: the town budgetVote Transparency Score
Norwell Select Board: 7 out of 10 · Mostly open
How easy Norwell makes it to see, online, how each member votes. It scores the town’s records, not any official. Checked October 3, 2026.
- Minutes postedMinutes are posted for most, but not all, meetings in the past year.Part points: 1/2
- Each vote namedSplit votes say how each member voted.Full points: 3/3
- Posted quicklyMinutes usually go up within about three weeks.Full points: 2/2
- Past years onlineSelect Board minutes online start in January 2023, under five years.No points: 0/1
- Readable textThe minutes are text you can search and copy.Full points: 1/1
- Member photosThe Select Board page shows no member photos.No points: 0/1
How the town can raise its score
- Minutes posted (+1): Post approved minutes for every meeting on the town website. Don’t require a sign-in to view them.
- Past years online (+1): Keep at least five years of minutes online. When the website changes, move the old files instead of deleting them.
- Member photos (+1): Show a photo of each member on the board’s web page, with their name, the date their term ends and how to contact them. A group photo of the members, with everyone named in the caption or on the same page, earns half a point.
How we score · Something wrong, or has the town made a change? Email info@massvoter.com and we’ll re-check.
A monthly email on its votes, starting in November. We'll also tell you if this score changes.
Board years
Coming up
MassVoter can’t read Norwell’s meeting calendar automatically yet. See upcoming meetings on the official site →
What Town Meeting decided
In Norwell, Town Meeting — not the Select Board — votes the town budget, bylaws and zoning. Norwell has not posted official results of its 2024–2026 Town Meetings online, so they are not here yet. We will add them when the Town Clerk’s records are available.
What we checked: Norwell has not posted official results for any Town Meeting since January 2024: its Town Meeting page has only warrants, motions and a consent agenda (no Town Clerk minutes or certified votes) for the May 6, 2024 Special and Annual, December 2024 Special, May 5, 2025 Special and Annual, and May 4, 2026 Special and Annual Town Meetings, and its newest Annual Town Report online is for 2023.
Members
Vice-ChairLorenda LayneVice Chair · Elected townwide · at 9 of 9 meetings
John McGrathClerk · Elected townwide · at 8 of 9 meetingsT. Andrew ReardonMember · Elected townwide · at 9 of 9 meetings
Peter W. SmellieMember · Elected townwide · at 9 of 9 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.
Attendance
23 full-board meetings so far this year, through September 16. Ties share a rank.
1Brian M. Greenberg23 of 23 meetings Every meeting100%2Lorenda Layne22 of 23 meetings96%2T. Andrew Reardon22 of 23 meetings96%4John McGrath20 of 23 meetings87%5Peter W. Smellie19 of 23 meetings83%27 full-board meetings in 2025. Ties share a rank.
1T. Andrew Reardon27 of 27 meetings Every meeting100%1Bruce W. Graham11 of 11 meetings · served until May Every meeting100%3Jason Brown10 of 11 meetings · served until May91%4Lorenda Layne14 of 16 meetings · served from May88%5Peter W. Smellie23 of 27 meetings85%6Brian M. Greenberg22 of 27 meetings81%7John McGrath12 of 16 meetings · served from May75%24 full-board meetings in 2024. Ties share a rank.
1T. Andrew Reardon23 of 24 meetings96%2Brian M. Greenberg22 of 24 meetings92%3Jason Brown21 of 24 meetings88%4Peter W. Smellie19 of 24 meetings79%5Bruce W. Graham18 of 24 meetings75%22 full-board meetings in 2023. Ties share a rank.
1Jason Brown22 of 22 meetings Every meeting100%1Brian M. Greenberg14 of 14 meetings · served from May Every meeting100%1Ellen Allen8 of 8 meetings · served until Apr Every meeting100%4Peter W. Smellie21 of 22 meetings95%5T. Andrew Reardon20 of 22 meetings91%6Bruce W. Graham17 of 21 meetings81%From the official minutes: full-board meetings only (committee meetings are not counted). Members are counted only for meetings held while they served, and arriving late counts as attending. The minutes rarely say why a member was absent.
A monthly email on its votes and who was there, starting in November.
Meetings
About missing minutes
Loaded: Select Board open-session minutes from January 4, 2023 through September 16, 2026, as posted on the town website (the town’s online archive starts in January 2023). Not here yet: minutes before 2023, minutes after September 16, 2026, and meetings whose minutes the town has not posted, including January 18, 2023, October 18, 2023, December 18, 2024, October 15, 2025, December 22, 2025, January 22, 2026, March 19 and 25, 2026, and April 16 and 28, 2026. Executive session minutes are not included. Six sets of minutes are scanned images, read with text recognition and checked by hand. Norwell’s minutes name who made and seconded each motion. When they say “unanimously voted” we show every member present as voting yes, and when they list how each member voted (by name), we show each vote as recorded. A few votes give only a count (for example, 4 voting yes, 1 voting no) with no names; those show the count only. Six meetings’ minutes have no attendance list, so their unanimous votes show the result only. Where the minutes name a member in a vote who is not on the attendance list, we show the count only and add a note. Members who stepped aside (recused) are left out of that vote. Votes of other boards at joint meetings (Planning Board, Board of Assessors, Capital Budget Committee) and joint votes of the two boards together are not included. 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.
Sep 16Extend the CSFF license agreement one year, to expire…Motion: to extend the CSFF license agreement one year, to expire on…Passed 4–1 · No: Reardon
September 16, 2026: Extend the CSFF license agreement one year, to expire on 12/31/29
To extend the CSFF license agreement one year, to expire on 12/31/29
Yes: Greenberg, Layne, McGrath, SmellieNo: Reardon
From the minutes
“Motion; made by Peter Smellie, seconded by Lorenda Layne, to extend the CSFF license agreement one year, to expire on 12/31/29. Greenberg, Layne, McGrath and Smellie voting yes, Reardon voting no. Motion carried.” (Motion: Smellie, second: Layne)
Aug 5Approve the updated health planMotion: to approve the updated health planPassed 4–0 · Abstained: Reardon
August 5, 2026: Approve the updated health plan
To approve the updated health plan
Yes: Greenberg, Layne, McGrath, SmellieAbstained: ReardonT. Andrew Reardon abstained (the minutes say: "retired employee").
From the minutes
“Motion; made by Peter Smellie, seconded by Lorenda Layne, to approve the updated health plan. Greenberg – yes, Layne – yes, McGrath – yes, Reardon – abstain (retired employee), Smellie – yes.” (Motion: Smellie, second: Layne)
From the Norwell Select Board’s official minutes, posted on the town website. We check every vote against the Select Board members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials. Photos of current members: Lorenda Layne and John McGrath from the South Shore Times candidate profiles (April 2025). Members without a photo show initials. Peter Smellie from his campaign Facebook page (“Peter D. Smellie for Selectman of Norwell, MA”).
How to read these pagesWhere the votes come from, how we check them against the official minutes, what isn't included yet, and how to report a mistake.About city pages →