LYNNFIELD — Selectman Chris Barrett can cross another item off his to-do list.
One of Barrett’s top priorities upon being voted chairman of the Board of Selectmen last year was the adoption of gender-neutral language in the town charter.
That goal was realized last week when Gov. Charlie Baker signed the town’s home-rule petition, which changes the name of the Lynnfield Board of Selectmen to the gender-neutral “Select Board.”
“The Select Board is dedicated to making sure our community remains on the right side of history,” said Barrett, who recently announced he will not seek another term on the board. “Real change starts at the local level, and I’m proud to join my fellow colleagues to help make positive change happen in the town of Lynnfield.”
The petition, which was filed on behalf of the town by House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading) and state Sen. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn), was signed into law last Wednesday. In addition to replacing all references to the Board of Selectmen with the term “Select Board,” the legislation also substitutes the word “chair” for “chairman” throughout the town charter.
Barrett said the charter change was one of his top three priorities when he was elected board chair last June. A formal request to petition the state legislature to amend the town charter was overwhelmingly approved by Town Meeting members last October.
The town of Lynnfield joins a growing number of communities across the state that have taken a stand in favor of promoting more inclusion in local government by removing all gender-specific references from its town charter,” said Jones. “Senator Crighton and I were happy to work together on Lynnfield’s behalf to move the home rule petition through the legislative process and secure the changes the town was seeking.”
“I applaud the people of Lynnfield for making inclusion a priority in their recent Town Meeting,” added Crighton. “It was great to work with Representative Jones, local officials, and constituents to get this bill passed into law.”
Barrett thanked Jones and Crighton for their efforts, calling them “a perfect example of two legislators who continuously cross party lines to help the community they represent.”
Town officials have already started the “laborious” process of coordinating the terminology changes at Town Hall, Barrett said. However, the town’s website had already been updated to reflect the new name of the Select Board within days of Baker’s approval of the petition.
“We have already started transitioning the website to reflect that, but it will take a little while to replace all terminology,” Barrett said, noting that Assistant Town Administrator Bob Curtin will be the point man for the transition.
“What Chris said sums it up: the charter has been changed and Bob is taking on that challenging project,” said Town Administrator Rob Dolan. “Chris made this a goal over the past year. It was approved and overwhelmingly supported at Town Meeting. This is a change that is inclusive and represents all citizens.”
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
