Select Board approves Executive Assistant and Senior Center roles amid staffing debate.

Select Board · Meeting of March 10, 2026

Southborough Select Board appointed two new municipal staff members and advanced warrant articles for its April 11 Annual Town Meeting despite one member's dissent on spending grounds. In dual 4-1 votes with Andrew R. Dennington, II, the Board named Rachel Murphy as Select Board Executive Assistant (Schedule A, Grade 5) and Jill Lillibridge as Senior Center Program Manager (Schedule A, Grade 6); Al Hamilton voted against both on grounds that new hires conflict with current economic constraints.

In joint session with the Advisory Committee and Capital Improvement Planning Committee, the Board supported the FY2027 operating budget at 4.88 percent year-over-year increase and approximately $57.8 million in total levy limit. The Board voted separately on more than a dozen warrant articles, approving most unanimously or by wide margins, and deferred Article 9 (Fire Department PPE), Article 12 (school building improvements), and several others to its March 17 meeting. Town Clerk Jim Hegarty's proposal to convert the elected clerk position to an appointed role passed unanimously with Board support.

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Source: the Select Board meeting of March 10, 2026, compiled from the official minutes.