SWAMPSCOTT — After calling itself the Select Board for more than two years, the town’s Board of Selectmen is finally looking to make the change official.
The board decided to unofficially adopt the more gender-neutral terminology following the town election in the spring of 2019, which resulted in the five-member board featuring three women, marking the first time there had been a female majority in town history.
Overall, there have only been eight women to serve on the Board of Selectmen since Swampscott was incorporated as a town in 1852, according to Town Clerk Susan Duplin.
While two of those women from 2019 — Naomi Dreeben and Laura Spathanas — are no longer on the board, leaving only its Chair Polly Titcomb as female representation, the name stuck, albeit on an unofficial basis.
Member Peter Spellios, who served as the board’s chair for the past three years before stepping down last month, said at last week’s meeting that since the new name has never officially been voted on, he has often found himself changing documents to reflect the panel’s preferred name of Select Board.
Now it appears that the name change is finally moving forward, with plans to include an article for it on the Dec. 13 special Town Meeting warrant. If approved at Town Meeting, the home-rule petition would have to be approved by the state legislature; this would allow for the Town Charter to be amended to reflect the new name.
“I am grateful we are moving forward with formalizing the change. It is more than a name change, it is an unequivocal statement that the leadership of our town is open and available to all — regardless of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation,” said Spellios, who initiated the name change two years ago. “Swampscott is best served when our leadership reflects our community in every way.”
Titcomb explained that, after becoming chair a few weeks ago, she looked at what the plans and initiatives were and saw an opening in the agenda for the upcoming special Town Meeting.
“I really thought there was no reason to not do this right now,” said Titcomb.
Titcomb said the name-change process would cost little to nothing and would also be quick and easy, considering that the meeting has already been planned and called for other reasons.
“This change is worth the cost to the town,” she said. “I wouldn’t avoid this because it costs the town something, but the other thing is that we happen to be going to a special Town Meeting anyway, so there’s no additional cost or gathering of a committee to make this change.”
In 2020, the Massachusetts Board of Selectmen Association changed the group’s name to the Massachusetts Select Board Association (MSA). According to the MSA, this change was to align with a trend among cities and towns to adopt gender-neutral terms in local government.
“It feels good,” Titcomb said. “It’s one of those things that, if you’re not using the terminology every day or you’re not a member of the board that has to use the terminology, it seems really subtle and I can understand why it might seem unusual. It’s a subtle shift in directions and (an) encouragement of the neutrality.”
