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Plainville voters reject charter amendment to expand Select Board to five members
Summary
Town Meeting voters defeated Article 35, which would have authorized the Select Board to petition the General Court to increase the Select Board from three to five members; supporters said it would broaden representation, opponents cited volunteer shortages and low candidate interest. The vote was 28–70.
Plainville Town Meeting rejected a citizen motion (Article 35 on the warrant dated 05/18/2026) to authorize the Select Board to petition the Massachusetts General Court for special legislation to increase the Select Board from three to five members. The moderator announced the final tally as 28 yes and 70 no, short of the two-thirds majority required to move the amendment forward.
The motion was introduced by a Select Board member, who said they had "first started thinking seriously about this several years ago" amid failed overrides and budget cuts and, after "serving on the board for the last 3 years," argued that a five-member board would bring "more voices and more perspectives to the table" and allow "more robust discussion" before decisions are made.
A proponent listed expected benefits of a larger board, saying a five-member Select Board would bring "broader community representation and enhanced decision making," dilute concentrated power, improve workload distribution and increase resident access. Another speaker urged expansion specifically to improve diversity on the board and noted other town boards — such as the finance and planning boards — have larger memberships.
Opponents countered that the town is functioning well with three members and warned that adding seats could complicate consensus-building. One resident argued that the town is already experiencing volunteer fatigue and low candidate interest, noting that "7 out of the 11 races last month were uncontested," that a redevelopment authority seat was decided by "12 write in votes," and that an estimated "25 open seats" across boards signals a roughly 35 percent vacancy rate. That speaker summarized the practical concern bluntly: "We don't have enough volunteers," and added that "adding seats doesn't add leaders, it adds either empty chairs or default candidates."
After discussion, the moderator called for a show of hands. The motion failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required for the charter amendment to proceed; the meeting record shows a final tally of 28 yes and 70 no. The transcript does not specify any follow-up steps or plans to resubmit the proposal.
