How the Pembroke Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 5 Select Board members elected townwide. Same five members. On May 22, 2024 the board chose Tracy Marino as Chair, Steven Ciciotti as Vice Chair and John G. Brown, Jr. as Clerk (each unanimous). Covers 23 meetings, May 22 to May 7, 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.
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 Pembroke, 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.
Special Town Meeting · October 21, 2025 12 votes: 11 passed, 1 failed
Art. 1Balance the FY2026 budget: $467,000 ($15,000 for police assessment centers, $452,000 for Pembroke Public Schools)Passed“MAJORITY”
Art. 2Capital items totaling $679,000 from free cash (library expansion and roof, culvert design, public safety fiber, school items)Passed“MAJORITY”
Art. 3Ask the Legislature to make the Town Clerk an appointed position instead of electedFailed“FAILED”
Art. 4Bylaw change: take consent calendar articles out of the lottery for the order of Town Meeting articlesPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 5Bylaw change: let the Moderator declare a 2/3 or 4/5 vote as allowed by state lawPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 6Join the South Shore Vocational Technical High School district, only if an override and debt exclusion pass at a town electionPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 7Zoning change: update kennel definitions and rules to match the state kennel safety lawPassed“2/3RD MAJORITY”
Art. 8ACommunity Preservation: $11,000 to the First Church for roof and door at the Sewing CirclePassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 8BCommunity Preservation: $20,000 to the Pembroke Historical Society for the Friends Quaker Meeting HousePassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 8CCommunity Preservation: $6,000 to the Pembroke Historical Society for the building at 116 Center StreetPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 8DCommunity Preservation: $30,000 for painting and exterior repairs at Bethel ChapelPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 9Fund first-year costs of new AFSCME union contracts (public works, clerical, water)Passed“MAJORITY”
Annual Town Meeting · May 13, 2025 36 votes: 32 passed, 3 failed, 1 no action
Art. 1Amend the wage and classification schedules A, B and C and fund the changesPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 2FY2026 town operating budget (Appendix B)Passed“MAJORITY”
Art. 3FY2026 Water Enterprise Fund operating budgetPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 4FY2026 Solid Waste Enterprise Fund operating budgetPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 5Capital budget: fund capital projects and equipment from taxes, enterprise and stabilization funds, borrowing or leasingPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 6Transfer $500,000 from free cash into OPEB, separation pay, stabilization, injury leave and workers' comp funds (consent agenda)Passed“MAJORITY”
Art. 7Community Preservation: reserve $50,000 each for historic, housing and open space, and $20,000 for admin (consent agenda)Passed“MAJORITY”
Art. 8Set FY2026 spending limits for the town's revolving funds (consent agenda)Passed“MAJORITY”
Art. 9Fund first-year costs of a new firefighters' union contractPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 10Accept state law allowing school bus stop-arm violation camerasPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 11Transfer closed Fire Station #3 at 380 Washington Street to the Select Board so it can be sold or leasedPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 12Swap small pieces of town water land at 161 Pleasant Street for nearby parcels to square up the Water Department lotPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 13AZoning change to the Medical Marijuana Overlay DistrictPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 13BBylaw change: allow marijuana retail stores and delivery in town (other marijuana businesses stay banned), if approved at a town electionPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 13CAccept a 3% local tax on retail adult-use marijuana salesPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 14Bylaw change: update the rule against using marijuana in public placesPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 15Bylaw change: remove Section 14B, the ban on possessing marijuanaPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 16Eliminate the Drainage Commission, Town Landing Committee and Cemetery Restoration CommitteePassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 17New bylaw banning black plastic in restaurant carry-out packagingPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 18Bylaw change: roof repairs and replacements in historic districts need Historic District Commission reviewPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 19Bylaw change: rewrite the Advisory Committee bylawPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 20Bylaw change: allow alcohol at events at the new Community Center that have a one-day liquor licensePassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 21Zoning change: update accessory dwelling unit (ADU) rules to match the state Affordable Homes ActPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 22Zoning change: extend the Washington Street Business B district rear line from 450 to 800 feetFailed“FAILED”
Art. 23Zoning change: add a "Public Utility" use allowed by Planning Board special permit in several districtsPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 24ACommunity Preservation: $500,000 to restore the Hobomock Elementary School playgroundPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 24BCommunity Preservation: $20,000 to the Kiwanis Club to restore the Kiwanis building at Herring Run ParkPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 24CCommunity Preservation: $110,000 for a new playground at the Community CenterPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 24DCommunity Preservation: $50,000 more for Magoun ParkPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 24ECommunity Preservation: $21,000 to restore the entry and porch of the Lydia Drake LibraryPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 25Accept Bristol Road (Bristol Estates) as a town wayPassed“MAJORITY”
Art. 26Accept the reports of town officers and committees (consent agenda)Passed“MAJORITY”
Art. 27Hold the annual town election for listed offices (consent agenda)Passed“MAJORITY”
Art. 28Citizen petition: stop fluoridating the public water supplyFailed“FAILED”
Art. 29Citizen petition: repeal Section 26 of Article XXIII of the general bylawsFailed“FAILED”
Art. 30Citizen petition: add $1,053,000 to FY2026 department budgets (including $904,950 for schools), contingent on a Proposition 2½ overrideNo action“TAKE NO ACTION”
Special Town Meeting · May 14, 2024 3 votes: 2 passed, 1 failed
Sessions: May 14, 2024 (within the Annual Town Meeting)
Art. 1FY2024 budget transfers between departments ($101,000 in total)Passed“MAJORITY”
Art. 2Fund first-year costs of new union contracts (AFSCME clerical, public works, water; police superior officers)Passed“MAJORITY”
Art. 3Citizen petition: give the Firehouse Pantry first refusal to run a town pantry if the current senior center building is offered to the townFailed“FAILED”
Not here yet: the May 13, 2025 Special Town Meeting held within the Annual Town Meeting (3 articles; its votes are not printed in the 2025 Annual Town Report) and the May 12, 2026 Annual and Special Town Meetings (only the warrant is posted; results will be in the 2026 Annual Town Report).
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: every Select Board meeting with minutes on the town website from January 2018 through April 1, 2026 (2018 to 2024 from the town's Document Center, 2025 and 2026 from its Agenda Center). Not here: minutes before 2018 (the Document Center has them back to 2010), executive-session minutes, and minutes the town has not posted yet (every meeting after April 1, 2026, so nothing yet for the board chosen in May 2026). Pembroke's minutes are typed and give the mover, the seconder and the result for each vote ("the motion passed unanimously"); votes in 2020 and 2021 remote meetings are roll calls by name. Two 2021 files and five 2026 files are scans, which we read by computer text recognition. When the minutes say a vote was unanimous we show every member present as voting yes; when they give a roll call, or a count with the members who voted no or abstained named, we show each member's vote as recorded. When the minutes only say a motion "passed", with no count, no names and no mention of a unanimous vote, we show the result only and never assume it was unanimous. Where the minutes give only a count without names, or a roll call names a member the minutes do not list as present, or the names and the count do not match, we show the count only and add a note. In early 2025 several sets of minutes leave a member off the attendance list even though that member made or seconded motions; those votes show the count only. Members who had not yet arrived or had left are left out of that vote. At joint meetings (Advisory Committee, School Committee, Board of Health, Planning Board appointments) only the Select Board members' votes are shown. 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 9Favorable action to add new section 27 to article…Motion: Favorable action to add new section 27 to article XXIII -…Passed · see note
April 9, 2025: Favorable action to add new section 27 to article XXIII - miscellaneous
ApprovePassed · No count or names in the minutes
Favorable action to add new section 27 to article XXIII - miscellaneous
The minutes say only that the motion passed; they do not give a count, name how members voted, or say it was unanimous.
From the minutes
“Mr. Ciciotti moved favorable action to add new section 27 to article XXIII - miscellaneous, seconded by Mr. Flynn, the motion passed..” (Motion: Ciciotti, second: Flynn)
Mar 19Approve the use of the Town's roads by South…Motion: To approve the use of the Town's roads by South Shore…Passed 4–0 · see note
March 19, 2025: Approve the use of the Town's roads by South Shore Race Management on Saturday, December 6, 2025, starting at 4:00pm on Center Street, Mountain Ave, High Street, Barker Street, Allen…
ApprovePassed · 4–0
To approve the use of the Town's roads by South Shore Race Management on Saturday, December 6, 2025, starting at 4:00pm on Center Street, Mountain Ave, High Street, Barker Street, Allen Street, and Littles Ave, subject to the approval and conditions of the Pembroke Police Department
The minutes name Richard Flynn as the seconder, but this member is not on the attendance list for this meeting, so no seconder is shown. Because the attendance list and the motion do not agree, we show the count only.
From the minutes
“Mr. Ciciotti made a motion to approve the use of the Town's roads by South Shore Race Management on Saturday, December 6, 2025, starting at 4:00pm on Center Street, Mountain Ave, High Street, Barker Street, Allen Street, and Littles Ave, subject to the approval and conditions of the Pembroke Police Department, seconded by Mr. Flynn, the motion passed unanimously..” (Motion: Ciciotti)
Mar 5Waive the Town's right of first refusal with respect…Motion: To waive the Town's right of first refusal with respect to…Passed 4–0 · see note
March 5, 2025: Waive the Town's right of first refusal with respect to the land located at 58 West Elm Street, parcel B10-3 containing approximately 12.1521 acres in accordance with MGL c.61A, sec.14…
ApprovePassed · 4–0
To waive the Town's right of first refusal with respect to the land located at 58 West Elm Street, parcel B10-3 containing approximately 12.1521 acres in accordance with MGL c.61A, sec.14 and based on the proposed purchase and sale agreement
The minutes name Richard Flynn as the mover, but this member is not on the attendance list for this meeting, so no mover is shown. Because the attendance list and the motion do not agree, we show the count only.
From the minutes
“Mr. Flynn made a motion to waive the Town's right of first refusal with respect to the land located at 58 West Elm Street, parcel B10-3 containing approximately 12.1521 acres in accordance with MGL c.61A, sec.14 and based on the proposed purchase and sale agreement, seconded by Mr. Ciciotti, the motion passed unanimously..” (second: Ciciotti)
Mar 5Approve the application for a transfer of package store…Motion: To approve the application for a transfer of package store all…Passed 4–0 · see note
March 5, 2025: Approve the application for a transfer of package store all alcohol license #00023-PK-0960 from Porta Bella Beverage, Inc. to Pembroke Wine & Spirits, Inc., to be exercised at 125 Church…
ApprovePassed · 4–0
To approve the application for a transfer of package store all alcohol license #00023-PK-0960 from Porta Bella Beverage, Inc. to Pembroke Wine & Spirits, Inc., to be exercised at 125 Church St, Pembroke, MA consisting of approximately 3,767 square feet. 1 main entrance/exit in front of building, loading dock and exit in rear
The minutes name Richard Flynn as the mover, but this member is not on the attendance list for this meeting, so no mover is shown. Because the attendance list and the motion do not agree, we show the count only.
From the minutes
“Mr. Flynn made a motion to approve the application for a transfer of package store all alcohol license #00023-PK-0960 from Porta Bella Beverage, Inc. to Pembroke Wine & Spirits, Inc., to be exercised at 125 Church St, Pembroke, MA consisting of approximately 3,767 square feet. 1 main entrance/exit in front of building, loading dock and exit in rear, seconded by Mr. Ciciotti, the motion passed unanimously..” (second: Ciciotti)
Mar 5Approve the pledge of license #00023-PK-0960 held by Wine…Motion: To approve the pledge of license #00023-PK-0960 held by Wine &…Passed 4–0 · see note
March 5, 2025: Approve the pledge of license #00023-PK-0960 held by Wine & Spirits, Inc. d/b/a Wine & Spirits Depot to Mechanics Cooperative Bank
ApprovePassed · 4–0
To approve the pledge of license #00023-PK-0960 held by Wine & Spirits, Inc. d/b/a Wine & Spirits Depot to Mechanics Cooperative Bank
The minutes name Richard Flynn as the mover, but this member is not on the attendance list for this meeting, so no mover is shown. Because the attendance list and the motion do not agree, we show the count only.
From the minutes
“Mr. Flynn made a motion to approve the pledge of license #00023-PK-0960 held by Wine & Spirits, Inc. d/b/a Wine & Spirits Depot to Mechanics Cooperative Bank, seconded by Mr. Ciciotti, the motion passed unanimously..” (second: Ciciotti)
Mar 5For favorable action on article 7, CPC Fund AllocationsMotion: For favorable action on article 7, CPC Fund AllocationsPassed 4–0 · see note
March 5, 2025: For favorable action on article 7, CPC Fund Allocations
ApprovePassed · 4–0
For favorable action on article 7, CPC Fund Allocations
The minutes name Richard Flynn as the seconder, but this member is not on the attendance list for this meeting, so no seconder is shown. Because the attendance list and the motion do not agree, we show the count only.
From the minutes
“Mr. Ciciotti made a motion for favorable action on article 7, CPC Fund Allocations, seconded by Mr. Flynn, the motion passed unanimously..” (Motion: Ciciotti)
Mar 5For favorable action on article 8, Revolving Fund LimitsMotion: For favorable action on article 8, Revolving Fund LimitsPassed 4–0 · see note
March 5, 2025: For favorable action on article 8, Revolving Fund Limits
ApprovePassed · 4–0
For favorable action on article 8, Revolving Fund Limits
The minutes name Richard Flynn as the seconder, but this member is not on the attendance list for this meeting, so no seconder is shown. Because the attendance list and the motion do not agree, we show the count only.
From the minutes
“Mr. Ciciotti made a motion for favorable action on article 8, Revolving Fund Limits, seconded by Mr. Flynn, the motion passed unanimously..” (Motion: Ciciotti)
Mar 5For favorable action on the bylaw amendment article regarding…Motion: For favorable action on the bylaw amendment article regarding section 14BPassed 4–0 · see note
March 5, 2025: For favorable action on the bylaw amendment article regarding section 14B
ApprovePassed · 4–0
For favorable action on the bylaw amendment article regarding section 14B
The minutes name Richard Flynn as the mover, but this member is not on the attendance list for this meeting, so no mover is shown. Because the attendance list and the motion do not agree, we show the count only.
From the minutes
“Mr. Flynn made a motion for favorable action on the bylaw amendment article regarding section 14B, seconded by Mr. Brown, the motion passed unanimously..” (second: Brown)
Mar 5For favorable action on the bylaw amendment article to…Motion: For favorable action on the bylaw amendment article to allow liquor…Passed 4–0 · see note
March 5, 2025: For favorable action on the bylaw amendment article to allow liquor service at the new community center
ApprovePassed · 4–0
For favorable action on the bylaw amendment article to allow liquor service at the new community center
The minutes name Richard Flynn as the mover, but this member is not on the attendance list for this meeting, so no mover is shown. Because the attendance list and the motion do not agree, we show the count only.
From the minutes
“Mr. Flynn made a motion for favorable action on the bylaw amendment article to allow liquor service at the new community center, seconded by Mr. Ciciotti, the motion passed unanimously..” (second: Ciciotti)
Mar 5For favorable action on the article to accept town…Motion: For favorable action on the article to accept town reportsPassed 4–0 · see note
March 5, 2025: For favorable action on the article to accept town reports
ApprovePassed · 4–0
For favorable action on the article to accept town reports
The minutes name Richard Flynn as the seconder, but this member is not on the attendance list for this meeting, so no seconder is shown. Because the attendance list and the motion do not agree, we show the count only.
From the minutes
“Mr. Ciciotti made a motion for favorable action on the article to accept town reports, seconded by Mr. Flynn, the motion passed unanimously..” (Motion: Ciciotti)
From the Pembroke Select Board’s official minutes, posted in the town’s Agenda Center and Document Center. We check every vote against the members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials. Photos of current members: Town of Pembroke Select Board page; Steven Ciciotti from WATD 95.9 (April 2025 candidate forum story). Former members show initials.