MassVoter.com← RochesterMunicipal votes · 2019–2020 Board
Rochester Select Board
How the Rochester Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 3 Select Board members elected townwide. Paul Ciaburri (Chair), Bradford N. Morse (Vice Chair) and Greenwood Hartley III (Clerk), as listed in the minutes. The minutes online start in January 2020. Covers 16 meetings, January 6 to June 24, 2020.
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 Rochester ballot: 14 quizzes, about a minute each.
Start my ballot →Board years
Coming up
No upcoming meeting is posted yet. Check the official calendar →
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 Rochester, Town Meeting — not the Select Board — votes the town budget, bylaws and zoning. Rochester 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: Rochester has not posted official results for any Town Meeting since January 2024: its new website has only a draft warrant for the May 13, 2024 Annual Town Meeting and bylaw texts for 2024 meetings, its newest Annual Town Report online is for 2023, and its old website (townofrochesterma.gov), which had the Clerk's May 13, 2024 Annual Town Meeting minutes, is offline.
Members
"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 (Board of Selectmen) meeting with minutes on the town website from January 2020 through September 8, 2026 (from the town's Document Center and Agenda Center). Not here: minutes before 2020, executive-session minutes, a few meetings whose minutes are not online (for example February 24, 2026, where the town posted the 2025 minutes by mistake), and minutes the town has not posted yet. Rochester's minutes are scanned paper copies, which we read by computer text recognition and checked by hand where the scan was unclear. They usually say "All members of the Board are in favor" or give a count ("Motion carries, 3-0"); in 2020 and at some later meetings they also give a roll call by name. When the minutes say all members were in favor, or give a count equal to the members present with no one opposed, we show every member present as voting yes. When a roll call names each member, or a split count names who voted no or abstained and the numbers add up, we show each member's vote. When a split count does not say who voted which way, or the count, the roll call and the members listed as present do not match, we show the count only and add a note. A member who makes or seconds motions but is not listed as present is not counted as present. Votes by other boards at joint meetings (Finance Committee, School Committee, Board of Assessors) are not included; where the board voted together with another board, only the Select Board members' votes are shown. 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.
Jun 15Accept the layout of the streets as presented by…Motion: to accept the layout of the streets as presented by the…Passed 2–0 · Abstained: Morse
June 15, 2020: Accept the layout of the streets as presented by the Planning Board
To accept the layout of the streets as presented by the Planning Board. This motion is.
Yes: Ciaburri, HartleyAbstained: Morse
From the minutes
“Motion: Selectman Hartley then makes a motion to accept the layout of the streets as presented by the Planning Board. This motion is seconded by Selectman Ciaburri. Selectman Morse abstains from the vote. Roll Call Vote Hartley- Aye, Ciaburri- Aye 2:0:1 motion passes..” (Motion: Hartley, second: Ciaburri)
Apr 30Reappoint Sharon Cruz to the Old Colony District CommitteeMotion: to reappoint Sharon Cruz to the Old Colony District Committee. This…Passed Unanimous, 3 present · see note
April 30, 2020: Reappoint Sharon Cruz to the Old Colony District Committee
To reappoint Sharon Cruz to the Old Colony District Committee. This motion is.
Joint vote of the appointing committee (Select Board, School Committee members and the Town Moderator). The motion was made by School Committee member Sharon Hartley. The roll call lists G. Hartley, Morse and Ciaburri as Aye; only the Select Board members' votes are shown.
From the minutes
“member Sharon Hartley makes a motion to reappoint Sharon Cruz to the Old Colony District Committee. This motion is seconded by Anne Fernandes, All present members of the Appointing Committee are in favor. Roll Call Vote G. Hartley- Aye, Morse - Aye, Ciaburri- Aye, 8. Hartley - Aye, Rood- Aye, Fernandes- Aye, Gilmore- Aye. The motion passes unanimously.”
Mar 16Refer the article as presented to the Planning BoardMotion: to refer the article as presented to the Planning Board. This…Passed 2–0 · Abstained: Morse
March 16, 2020: Refer the article as presented to the Planning Board
To refer the article as presented to the Planning Board. This motion is then.
Yes: Ciaburri, HartleyAbstained: Morse
From the minutes
“Motion: A motion is made by Selectman Hartley to refer the article as presented to the Planning Board. This motion is then seconded by Selectman Ciaburri. Selectman Morse abstains from the vote. The motion passes with a 2:0:1 vote..” (Motion: Hartley, second: Ciaburri)
Feb 3Sign the citation as presentedMotion: to sign the citation as presented.Passed Unanimous, 3 present · see note
February 3, 2020: Sign the citation as presented
To sign the citation as presented.
The minutes name Bradford N. Morse as both the mover and the seconder.
From the minutes
“Motion: Selectman Morse makes a motion to sign the citation as presented, seconded by Selectman Morse. All members of the Board are in favor and the motion passes unanimously..” (Motion: Morse)
From the Rochester Select Board’s official minutes, posted in the town’s Document Center and Agenda Center. We check every vote against the members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials.
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 →