How the Yarmouth Select Board voted, from the Select Board’s official minutes. 5 Select Board members elected townwide. Same five members (Mark Forest was re-elected on May 16, 2023). On May 23, 2023 the board chose Michael Stone as Chair (3-0, Stone abstaining) and Licensing Chair, Dan Horgan as Vice Chair and Dorcas McGurrin as Clerk and Appointments Chair (each 4-0; Peter Smith joined the meeting later). Board of Selectmen became Select Board in late 2023. Covers 28 meetings, May 23 to May 14, 2024.
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 Yarmouth, 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 · November 17, 2025 15 votes: 12 passed, 2 passed as amended, 1 failed
Art. 2FY2026 municipal operating budget ($51,530,178), amended to use $2 million of ambulance receipts for fire wagesPassed as amended“Moderator declared the motion carries”
Not here yet: the April 28, 2026 Annual Town Meeting and the June 24, 2026 Special Town Meeting (no official results posted yet; they should appear 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: Select Board minutes from January 3, 2018 through June 24, 2026. Minutes for 2018 and 2019 come from the town’s Archive Center (its Selectmen Minutes go back to 2005); later minutes come from its online Agenda Center. Not here: executive-session minutes (except four dates, in 2019 and 2020, where they are the only minutes posted), and meetings whose minutes are not online, including most meetings from March 30 to October 19, 2021 (19 meetings), about 20 other agenda-only dates from 2018 to 2025 (many of them executive sessions, workshops or joint meetings), and almost all of 2026: by October 4, 2026 the town had posted minutes for only three 2026 meetings (April 28, May 20 and June 24). Two files are not the minutes of the meeting they are posted under (the August 19, 2023 file is a copy of the November 15, 2022 minutes; the June 27, 2022 file is another committee’s minutes), so those dates are left out. Since 2023 most minutes are scanned copies, which MassVoter read with text-recognition software. Yarmouth’s minutes set out each motion with the mover, the seconder and the vote, such as “Vote: 4 ayes; 1 nay (Mike Stone)” or “Yea 5 Nay 0”, and remote and hybrid meetings record roll calls by name. When the count matches the members present, we show every member present as voting yes, and when the minutes name the members who voted no or abstained, everyone else present as voting yes. Members the minutes say were absent for a vote, left, or had not yet joined are left out of those votes. Where the minutes give only a split count without names, the count does not match the members on the attendance line, or a roll call lists a member the minutes do not show as present, we show the count only and add a note. Votes by other boards at joint meetings are not included. 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.
May 14Accept, with thanks, the resignation of Lorraine Doyle from…Motion: To accept, with thanks, the resignation of Lorraine Doyle from the…Passed Unanimous, 4 present · see note
May 14, 2024: Accept, with thanks, the resignation of Lorraine Doyle from the Community Housing Committee
AppointPassed · Unanimous, 4 present
To accept, with thanks, the resignation of Lorraine Doyle from the Community Housing Committee
Peter Smith was not present for this vote, as the minutes note with the count.
From the minutes
“MOTION: To accept, with thanks, the resignation of Lorraine Doyle from the Community Housing Committee Motion By: Dorcas McGurrin Seconded By: Dan Horgan Vote: 4 ayes; 0 nays; 1 member absent (Peter Q. Smith). The motion passed..” (Motion: McGurrin, second: Horgan)
May 14Appoint John Mitchell as a regular member of the…Motion: To appoint John Mitchell as a regular member of the Disability…Passed Unanimous, 4 present · see note
May 14, 2024: Appoint John Mitchell as a regular member of the Disability Commission
AppointPassed · Unanimous, 4 present
To appoint John Mitchell as a regular member of the Disability Commission. This appointment is to fill an unexpired three-year term which will run through March of 2027.
Peter Smith was not present for this vote, as the minutes note with the count.
From the minutes
“MOTION: To appoint John Mitchell as a regular member of the Disability Commission. This appointment is to fill an unexpired three-year term which will run through March of 2027. Motion By: Dorcas McGurrin Seconded By: Mark Forest Vote: 4 ayes; 0 nays; 1 member absent (Peter Q. Smith). The motion passed..” (Motion: McGurrin, second: Forest)
May 14Appoint David Geanacopoulos as a regular member of the…Motion: To appoint David Geanacopoulos as a regular member of the Historical…Passed Unanimous, 4 present · see note
May 14, 2024: Appoint David Geanacopoulos as a regular member of the Historical Commission
AppointPassed · Unanimous, 4 present
To appoint David Geanacopoulos as a regular member of the Historical Commission. This appointment is to fill an unexpired three-year term which will run through July of 2026.
Peter Smith was not present for this vote, as the minutes note with the count.
From the minutes
“MOTION: To appoint David Geanacopoulos as a regular member of the Historical Commission. This appointment is to fill an unexpired three-year term which will run through July of 2026. Motion By: Dorcas McGurrin Seconded By: Mark Forest Vote: 4 ayes; 0 nays; 1 member absent (Peter Q. Smith). The motion passed..” (Motion: McGurrin, second: Forest)
May 14Consent agenda, tabling the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program…Motion: To move the consent agenda, tabling the Massachusetts Public Library Construction…Passed Unanimous, 4 present · see note
May 14, 2024: Consent agenda, tabling the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program grant authorization request until a further date
ApprovePassed · Unanimous, 4 present
To move the consent agenda, tabling the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program grant authorization request until a further date.
Peter Smith was not present for this vote, as the minutes note with the count.
From the minutes
“MOTION: To move the consent agenda, tabling the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program grant authorization request until a further date. Motion By: Dan Horgan Seconded By: Dorcas McGurrin Vote: 4 ayes; 0 nays; 1 member absent (Peter Q. Smith). The motion passed..” (Motion: Horgan, second: McGurrin)
May 7Extend the Public Hearing to May 14, 2024 at…Motion: To extend the Public Hearing to May 14, 2024 at 6:15…Passed Unanimous, 3 present · see note
May 7, 2024: Extend the Public Hearing to May 14, 2024 at 6:15 p.m. at Town Hall
ApprovePassed · Unanimous, 3 present
To extend the Public Hearing to May 14, 2024 at 6:15 p.m. at Town Hall.
Mark Forest was not present for this vote, as the minutes note with the count.
From the minutes
“MOTION: To extend the Public Hearing to May 14, 2024 at 6:15 p.m. at Town Hall. Motion By: Peter Q. Smith Seconded By: Dorcas McGurrin Vote: 3 ayes; 0 nays; 2 members absent (Mark Forest; Dan Horgan). The motion passed..” (Motion: Smith, second: McGurrin)
May 7Accepts the resignation of Ken Lafrennie from the Golf…Motion: To accepts the resignation of Ken Lafrennie from the Golf Enterprise…Passed Unanimous, 3 present · see note
May 7, 2024: Accepts the resignation of Ken Lafrennie from the Golf Enterprise Committee with thanks for his service
AppointPassed · Unanimous, 3 present
To accepts the resignation of Ken Lafrennie from the Golf Enterprise Committee with thanks for his service.
Peter Smith was not present for this vote, as the minutes note with the count.
From the minutes
“MOTION: To accepts the resignation of Ken Lafrennie from the Golf Enterprise Committee with thanks for his service. Motion By: Dorcas McGurrin Seconded By: Mark Forest Vote: 3 ayes; 0 nays; 2 members absent (Dan Horgan; Peter Q. Smith). The motion passed..” (Motion: McGurrin, second: Forest)
May 7Accept the appointment of Jerry Niedermeier to the Golf…Motion: To accept the appointment of Jerry Niedermeier to the Golf Enterprise…Passed Unanimous, 3 present · see note
May 7, 2024: Accept the appointment of Jerry Niedermeier to the Golf Enterprise Committee for a term of three (3) years, which would run though April of 2026
AppointPassed · Unanimous, 3 present
To accept the appointment of Jerry Niedermeier to the Golf Enterprise Committee for a term of three (3) years, which would run though April of 2026.
Peter Smith was not present for this vote, as the minutes note with the count.
From the minutes
“MOTION: To accept the appointment of Jerry Niedermeier to the Golf Enterprise Committee for a term of three (3) years, which would run though April of 2026. Motion By: Dorcas McGurrin Seconded By: Mark Forest Vote: 3 ayes; 0 nays; 2 members absent (Dan Horgan; Peter Q. Smith). The motion passed..” (Motion: McGurrin, second: Forest)
Apr 30Accept the resignation of John Stuart as Appointed Alternate…Motion: To accept the resignation of John Stuart as Appointed Alternate on…Passed 3–0 · see note
April 30, 2024 (Special meeting): Accept the resignation of John Stuart as Appointed Alternate on the Old King's Highway Committee
AppointPassed · 3–0
To accept the resignation of John Stuart as Appointed Alternate on the Old King's Highway Committee.
The minutes give the count as 3 in favor and none opposed, but 5 members were present for this vote (Michael Stone, Dan Horgan, Peter Smith, Mark Forest and Dorcas McGurrin). Showing the count only.
From the minutes
“MOTION: To accept the resignation of John Stuart as Appointed Alternate on the Old King's Highway Committee. Motion by: Dan Horgan Seconded by: Peter Q. Smith Vote: 3 ayes; 0 nays; 2 members absent. The motion carried unanimously..” (Motion: Horgan, second: Smith)
From the Yarmouth Select Board’s official minutes, posted in the town’s Agenda Center and its Archive Center (2018 and 2019). We check every vote against the Select Board members present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials. Photos: Town of Yarmouth (Tracy Post, Liz Argo); The Provincetown Independent, courtesy Mark Forest (Mark Forest); Cape Cod Times (Joyce Flynn); AARP (Dorcas McGurrin)