How the Shirley Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 3 Select Board members elected townwide for three-year terms. On July 14, 2025 the board chose Brian Hildebrant as Chair, Andree Jean Jacques as Vice Chair and Debra Flagg as Clerk (each vote recorded 2-0 with three members present). Debra Flagg was re-elected without opposition at the May 5, 2026 town election. Covers 21 meetings, July 14 to June 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.
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 Shirley, 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 26 votes: 22 passed, 1 passed as amended, 3 no action
Not here yet: No Shirley Town Meeting after May 11, 2026 is posted yet; Shirley's fall Special Town Meeting is usually in mid-November (November 18, 2024; November 17, 2025).
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: Shirley Select Board minutes from January 5, 2022 through September 8, 2026: 105 meetings and 1,266 votes. The town’s Agenda Center has Select Board minutes from January 2022 on; nothing earlier is online (the Archive Center and Document Center hold annual town reports, warrants and Town Meeting minutes, but no Select Board minutes). Minutes from 2022 to mid-2024 are typed files; most minutes since August 2024 are scanned images of the signed minutes, which MassVoter read with text recognition and checked where names or counts were unclear. Not here: executive-session meetings; votes of the Planning Board, Sewer Commission, Recreation Commission, War Memorial Trustees, Board of Assessors, Cemetery Committee and other boards at joint meetings (the minutes record each board’s vote separately); meetings with an agenda but no posted minutes, among them July 14 and July 25, 2022, September 11 and 14, 2023, June 16 and September 22, 2025, and May 20 and July 14, 2026 (the file posted for May 20, 2026 is a second copy of the March 23, 2026 minutes; the July 14, 2026 agenda includes the board’s reorganization); and meetings after September 8, 2026 (the September 24, September 28 and October 5, 2026 minutes are not posted yet). Shirley’s minutes name the mover and seconder and give a count (“Ms. Flagg made a motion to appoint Traci Bateman to the STAC. Ms. Jean Jacques seconded, Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous”), with abstentions named (“Motion passed, 2-0, Mr. Hildebrant Abstained”). A count equal to the members present, or unanimous wording, is shown as every member present voting yes; a named abstention is shown that way, with the other members present voting yes. Several minutes list fewer members in the attendance line than the votes show (for example, a member who called the meeting to order but is missing from the list, with votes recorded 3-0); on a three-member board a 3-0 vote means all three voted, so those members are counted present, with a note. Where the count is lower than the members present and the minutes do not say who did not vote (most often the board’s own officer elections, recorded 2-0 with three members present), we show the count only (10 votes); where the minutes give no count or names we show the result only (2 votes, both from the February 10, 2025 minutes, which are written as a narrative summary). Bryan Sawyer served on the board until May 2024 and has been Town Administrator since June 2024; as Town Administrator he does not vote. 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 13Approve the 3/9/2026 meeting minutesMotion: Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to approve the 3/9/2026 meeting…Passed Unanimous, 2 present · see note
Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to approve the 3/9/2026 meeting minutes. Mr. Flagg seconded, Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous.
The minutes name “Mr. Flagg” as the seconder, but Debra Flagg is not on the attendance list and the vote is recorded 2-0 with two members present, so no seconder is shown.
From the minutes
“Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to approve the 3/9/2026 meeting minutes. Mr. Flagg seconded, Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous..” (Motion: Andree Jean Jacques)
Oct 27Approve the Special Town Meeting Warrant for November 17,…Motion: Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to approve the Special Town…Passed 2–0 · see note
October 27, 2025: Approve the Special Town Meeting Warrant for November 17, 2025
ApprovePassed · 2–0
Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to approve the Special Town Meeting Warrant for November 17, 2025. Ms. Flagg seconded, Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous.
The minutes give the count as 2-0, “unanimous,” but 3 members were at the meeting (Brian Hildebrant, Andree Jean Jacques and Debra Flagg) and the minutes do not say who did not vote. Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to approve the Special Town Meeting Warrant for November 17, 2025. Ms. Flagg seconded, Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous..” (Motion: Andree Jean Jacques, second: Debra Flagg)
Aug 25Appoint Brian Hildebrant to the Enhancing Shirley CommitteeMotion: Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to appoint Brian Hildebrant to…Passed 2–0 · see note
August 25, 2025: Appoint Brian Hildebrant to the Enhancing Shirley Committee
AppointPassed · 2–0
Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to appoint Brian Hildebrant to the Enhancing Shirley Committee. Ms. Flagg seconded. Motion passed, 2-0,
The minutes give the count as 2-0 with “1 abstain” but do not name who abstained (three members were present; the motion appointed Brian Hildebrant). Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to appoint Brian Hildebrant to the Enhancing Shirley Committee. Ms. Flagg seconded. Motion passed, 2-0,.” (Motion: Andree Jean Jacques, second: Debra Flagg)
Jul 14Appoint Brian Hildebrant as Select Board ChairMotion: Ms. Flagg made a motion to appoint Brian Hildebrant as Select…Passed 2–0 · see note
July 14, 2025: Appoint Brian Hildebrant as Select Board Chair
AppointPassed · 2–0
Ms. Flagg made a motion to appoint Brian Hildebrant as Select Board Chair. Ms. Jean Jacques seconded. Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous.
The minutes give the count as 2-0, “unanimous,” but 3 members were at the meeting (Debra Flagg, Brian Hildebrant and Andree Jean Jacques) and the minutes do not say who did not vote. Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“Ms. Flagg made a motion to appoint Brian Hildebrant as Select Board Chair. Ms. Jean Jacques seconded. Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous..” (Motion: Debra Flagg, second: Andree Jean Jacques)
Jul 14Appoint Andree Jean Jacques as Select Board Vice ChairMotion: Mr. Hildebrant made a motion to appoint Andree Jean Jacques as…Passed 2–0 · see note
July 14, 2025: Appoint Andree Jean Jacques as Select Board Vice Chair
AppointPassed · 2–0
Mr. Hildebrant made a motion to appoint Andree Jean Jacques as Select Board Vice Chair. Ms. Flagg seconded. Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous.
The minutes give the count as 2-0, “unanimous,” but 3 members were at the meeting (Debra Flagg, Brian Hildebrant and Andree Jean Jacques) and the minutes do not say who did not vote. Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“Mr. Hildebrant made a motion to appoint Andree Jean Jacques as Select Board Vice Chair. Ms. Flagg seconded. Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous..” (Motion: Brian Hildebrant, second: Debra Flagg)
Jul 14Appoint Debra Flagg as Select Board ClerkMotion: Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to appoint Debra Flagg as…Passed 2–0 · see note
July 14, 2025: Appoint Debra Flagg as Select Board Clerk
AppointPassed · 2–0
Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to appoint Debra Flagg as Select Board Clerk. Mr. Hildebrant seconded. Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous.
The minutes give the count as 2-0, “unanimous,” but 3 members were at the meeting (Debra Flagg, Brian Hildebrant and Andree Jean Jacques) and the minutes do not say who did not vote. Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“Ms. Jean Jacques made a motion to appoint Debra Flagg as Select Board Clerk. Mr. Hildebrant seconded. Motion passed, 2-0, unanimous..” (Motion: Andree Jean Jacques, second: Brian Hildebrant)
From the Shirley Select Board’s official minutes, posted in the town’s Agenda Center (Select Board). 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): Lowell Sun / Nashoba Valley Voice — Andree Lourdes Jean Jacques (May 2025, courtesy of the candidate). Debra Flagg and Brian Hildebrant show initials (no named photo found). Cropped by MassVoter. Former members show initials.