How the Westford Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 5 Select Board members elected townwide for three-year terms. Noëlle Donovan and Sean Kelly were elected at the May 6, 2025 town election, succeeding Scott Hazelton and Andrea Peraner-Sweet. On May 13, 2025 the board chose Tom Clay as Chair, Chris Barrett as Vice Chair and John Cunningham as Clerk (each 5-0). John Cunningham announced on February 10, 2026 that he would resign effective May 4, 2026; the last year of his term was filled at the May 5, 2026 town election. Covers 29 meetings, May 13 to April 28, 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.
In Westford, 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 · March 28, 2026 33 votes: 28 passed, 1 failed, 2 no action, 2 other
Art. 14Accept local option reducing the residency requirement for disabled veteran property tax exemptions (MGL c. 59, s. 22F)Passed“It was voted and passed by majority:”
Not here yet: All Westford Town Meetings held from January 2024 to October 12, 2026 are here; the 2026 Special Town Meeting is on October 26, 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: Westford Select Board minutes from January 9, 2018 through July 28, 2026: 262 meetings and 3,234 votes. The town’s document archive holds Select Board and Board of Selectmen minutes back to 1890 (typed, searchable files from 2003); MassVoter loaded January 2018 on. The board was the Board of Selectmen until the Legislature approved the Town Charter change on November 13, 2020; its minutes are headed “Select Board” from December 8, 2020. Most 2018–2019 approved minutes are signed scans, which MassVoter read with text recognition (where the archive also has the typed draft, the approved copy is used). Also loaded: joint meetings with the Finance Committee, School Committee and Town and School Safety Task Force that are filed with the board’s minutes; only the Select Board’s own votes are shown. Not online: the minutes of some meetings with posted agendas, among them March 13 and October 15, 2018; February 12, 2019; May 12 and June 9, 2020; January 14, April 8 and April 22, 2025; and the October 2025 goal-setting retreat. MassVoter is asking the town for them. Not here: executive-session minutes, cancelled meetings, and the votes of the Finance Committee, School Committee and other boards at joint meetings. Minutes after July 28, 2026 are not posted yet (the board approves them before posting, usually about two months later). The town also reposts each agenda the day after a meeting with “ACTION TAKEN” notes under the items; those are not minutes, and MassVoter does not use them. Westford’s minutes name the mover and seconder and give a count, naming any member who votes no, abstains, recuses or is absent (“VOTED 3 IN FAVOR, 2 OPPOSED (Hazelton, Kost) TO RECOMMEND Article 11”); a count that equals the members present, with the members voting no or abstaining named, is shown as each member’s vote. Meetings with a member taking part remotely (2018) and the 2020 remote meetings add roll calls by name (“Clay - yes, Kost - no”). Members who arrived late, left, recused or were out of the room are not shown in the votes they missed. Where the count does not fit the members present or does not match the roll call, we show the count only (14 votes); where the minutes say the board voted by roll call but give no count, we show the result only (4 votes). A motion with no recorded outcome is not counted as a vote. We will ask the town to confirm any noted vote.
It was moved by SB Member Cunningham, seconded by SB Member Donovan, and VOTED 5 IN FAVOR TO APPROVE the grants as presented.
The minutes record “VOTED 5 IN FAVOR”, but 4 members were at the meeting (Chris Barrett, John Cunningham, Noëlle Donovan and Sean Kelly), and they do not say who did not vote. Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“It was moved by SB Member Cunningham, seconded by SB Member Donovan, and VOTED 5 IN FAVOR TO APPROVE the grants as presented..” (Motion: Cunningham, second: Donovan)
Jan 27Appoint Meghan O'Connell as an alternate member of the…Motion: It was moved by SB Member Cunningham, seconded by SB Member…Passed 4–1 · No: Donovan
January 27, 2026: Appoint Meghan O'Connell as an alternate member of the Permanent Town Building Committee for a term to expire June 30, 2027
AppointPassed · 4–1
It was moved by SB Member Cunningham, seconded by SB Member Kelly, and VOTED 4 IN FAVOR, 1 OPPOSED (Donovan) TO APPOINT Meghan O'Connell as an alternate member of the Permanent Town Building Committee for a term to expire June 30, 2027.
Yes: Barrett, Clay, Cunningham, KellyNo: Donovan
From the minutes
“It was moved by SB Member Cunningham, seconded by SB Member Kelly, and VOTED 4 IN FAVOR, 1 OPPOSED (Donovan) TO APPOINT Meghan O'Connell as an alternate member of the Permanent Town Building Committee for a term to expire June 30, 2027..” (Motion: Cunningham, second: Kelly)
It was moved by SB Member Donovan, seconded by SB Member Cunningham and VOTED BY ROLL CALL, 2 IN FAVOR, 3 DENY (Kelly, Barrett, Clay) TO GRANT a Solicitor Permit to Edward App.
Yes: Cunningham, DonovanNo: Barrett, Clay, Kelly
From the minutes
“It was moved by SB Member Donovan, seconded by SB Member Cunningham and VOTED BY ROLL CALL, 2 IN FAVOR, 3 DENY (Kelly, Barrett, Clay) TO GRANT a Solicitor Permit to Edward App..” (Motion: Donovan, second: Cunningham)
Nov 25Approve changes to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion charge…Motion: It was moved by SB Member Cunningham, seconded by SB Chair…Passed 4–1 · No: Donovan
November 25, 2025: Approve changes to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion charge to 13 full members, 6 alternate members, 2 full student members, and 2 liaison non-voting members
ApprovePassed · 4–1
It was moved by SB Member Cunningham, seconded by SB Chair Clay, and VOTED 4 IN FAVOR, 1 OPPOSED (Donovan) TO APPROVE changes to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion charge to 13 full members, 6 alternate members, 2 full student members, and 2 liaison non-voting members.
Yes: Barrett, Clay, Cunningham, KellyNo: Donovan
From the minutes
“It was moved by SB Member Cunningham, seconded by SB Chair Clay, and VOTED 4 IN FAVOR, 1 OPPOSED (Donovan) TO APPROVE changes to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion charge to 13 full members, 6 alternate members, 2 full student members, and 2 liaison non-voting members..” (Motion: Cunningham, second: Clay)
May 27Approve the M.G.L. c. 138, Section 15, All-Alcohol Package…Motion: It was moved by SB Member Kelly, seconded by SB Member…Passed 4–1 · No: Barrett
May 27, 2025: Approve the M.G.L. c. 138, Section 15, All-Alcohol Package Store License as presented
ApprovePassed · 4–1
It was moved by SB Member Kelly, seconded by SB Member Donovan, and VOTED 4 IN FAVOR, 1 OPPOSED (Barrett) TO APPROVE the M.G.L. c. 138, Section 15, All-Alcohol Package Store License as presented.
Yes: Clay, Cunningham, Donovan, KellyNo: Barrett
From the minutes
“It was moved by SB Member Kelly, seconded by SB Member Donovan, and VOTED 4 IN FAVOR, 1 OPPOSED (Barrett) TO APPROVE the M.G.L. c. 138, Section 15, All-Alcohol Package Store License as presented..” (Motion: Kelly, second: Donovan)
From the Westford Select Board’s official minutes, posted in the town’s document archive (“View all meeting minutes” on the Select Board page) and, for recent meetings, its Agenda Center. 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 only an unnamed group photo): League of Women Voters of Westford Voters’ Guides — Chris Barrett, Tom Clay and Elizabeth Sawyer (2026); Sean Kelly and Noëlle Donovan (2025). Cropped by MassVoter. Former members show initials.