Marblehead names chairs for both major boards

MARBLEHEAD – Both of the town’s major boards will be chaired by women.Amy Drinker was unanimously re-elected chair of the School Committee Thursday evening. She was nominated by Patricia Blackmer and the nomination was seconded by James Dearborn. Dearborn was elected vice chairman and Blackmer was elected secretary. Drinker is serving her second term on the School Committee and is in her third year as chair.On a 4-0 vote, Selectmen unanimously elected Jackie Belf-Becker as chair on Wednesday evening. She was nominated by James Nye and the vote was unanimous.Belf-Becker is married to former Board of Health member David Belf Becker and she is the mother of Dr. Todd Belf-Becker, who succeeded his father on the Board of Health last week. Her family was in the audience to see her elected.A lawyer, she is a former School Committee member who was elected to her first term as selectman in 2005. She represented the board on the 14-member Superintendent of Schools Search Committee.Concerned about townspeople reactions to the selectmen’s 2007 vote on allowing a TV program, “Extreme Home Makeover,” to rehab a home for a Marblehead family, Belf-Becker led the board in inviting the public to the May 28 selectmen’s meeting to express their comments or concerns regarding the project.Board members restated their position on the request from Andrew Harrison, location manager of Lock and Key Productions, during a June 20, 2007 selectmen’s meeting. The board supported “Extreme Home Makeover” coming to Marblehead, but placed what the board called “reasonable conditions” on the project.