Home / Archive / VOL. VII NO. 10 05/15/2026 / Notes from the 3-5 Member Study Committee, May 7, 2026, Hybrid meeting

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Notes from the 3-5 Member Study Committee, May 7, 2026, Hybrid meeting

  1. Wide ranging conversation about how to decide if expanding to a 5-member Select Board is a good choice.
  2. David Adler spoke with Lanesborough to determine on what basis they decided to expand. He spoke to Town Administrator Gina Dario. It was she who had the idea to expand in order to “increase diversity.”  The idea to expand was passed at TM in response to a Citizen’s petition a few years ago and is being acted upon this year. An increased SB would increase costs to the Town unless, as Lanesborough did, Stockbridge decides to level fund. That means take the amount 3 SB members cost per  year in stipend and benefits (insurance and later possibly pensions) and divide that amount by 5 decreasing the amount per member but holding the cost to the Town level. Jorja said the current SB may vote soon on whether or not to cut stipends and benefits (unclear what they would vote on cutting).
  3. Members Sally Underwood-Miller, Don Chabon, and Peter Strauss objected, saying if the point was to encourage more participation in Town government, cutting benefits and stipends seemed the wrong way to go. The three agreed that one way to encourage participation was to offer benefits and stipends.
  4. Jorja Marsden said only SB and Board of Assessors members have benefits.  The Assessors are eligible but do not take the insurance. Two SB members have both stipend and insurance and take them. Jorja takes the stipend and the insurance but she ,has insurance due to being an retired employee of Stockbridge after 31 years not as SB member. Someone asked why only those two Boards but Jorja did not know.
  5. Patti Caya said she was the “data nerd” and offered some statistics. For example, Stockbridge is older, that is with a higher median age (65 years old).  Tose towns that changed from a 3-member to a 5-member SB had a younger median age.
  6. Adler said we are not saying SB members have to be younger – a discussion followed about who had more time – older people or younger people. Strauss said a goal cannot be to encourage only younger people. We want them involved but what Caya’s median age data shows Stockbridge has fewer young people.
  7. Bruce Aurbach mentioned the problem when Patrick White quit SB: with only 2 members, there were matters that could not be addressed because a third vote was required. 
  8. Chabon mentioned that with only three SB members, no two members could talk outside of a public meeting due to Open Meeting Laws. With 5, 2 could talk outside of a meeting.
  9. Some thought that was a good idea, but Caya did not. She said her experience in Stockbridge has been that there is too much “backroom,” and she would hope all conversation on issues would be in public.
  10. Strauss said it was his impression that the real problem in Stockbridge was that the Town Administrator (TA) runs the SB rather than the SB running the TA and that needed to be reversed.
  11. Adler said what was needed was that both needed to be strong.
  12. A member pointed out that legally the SB must be stronger than TA because the elected officials (representatives of the people) have the power to hire and fire the TA and SB votes on the issues. 
  13. That prompted another member to suggest that they decide on what serves Stockbridge the best.
  14. Caya said that elections might be based on popularity rather than skill to do the job and she added that “not necessarily better to go to 5” because talk “behind the scenes could be traumatic.”
  15. Many members said they had an opinion when they volunteered to serve on the study committee, but now they were unsure. They were willing to study and discuss.
Jay Rhind

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