NAHANT — The Board of Selectmen elected to have a warrant article added to the next Town Meeting that, if passed, would officially change its name to Select Board.
“It’s a little more than a clerical change in my opinion. I think it’s entirely appropriate for the world we live in,” Selectman Rob Tibbo said, in support of a potential name change.
Selectman Gene Canty said that a majority of towns in the Commonwealth have changed their names to Select Board.
Chairman Josh Antrim expressed his instinct to preserve traditional customs such as this one, but said he would support the change if it made his peers and residents feel more comfortable.
“Let’s just ask the question,” Tibbo said about giving the community an opportunity to vote on the name.
In order for the motion to carry, a two-thirds majority will be required.
The Board also considered expanding from three elected members to five, but decided not to do so at this time. According to Town Counsel Daniel Skrip, a change in the town’s Home Rule Charter would be needed, therefore a charter commission would need to be formed.
“You’re looking at a two-year process just to get the commission created and filled,” Town Administrator Tony Barletta said.
Canty brought the expansion idea to the Board, with the goal of increasing talent, diversity and representation. He named the possibility for longer meetings as the only negative aspect of doing so.
While the Board members chose not to start the process of changing its constitution now, they asserted that it could still happen in the future.
“I don’t want to lean on the fact that it’s a difficult process as a reason for not taking it on,” Antrim said. “If we think it benefits the town in some substantial way, we should take it on, but right now that’s not the way I feel.”
