Southborough Select Board votes to back elected-to-appointed town clerk conversion

SOUTHBOROUGH -- March 10, 2026, Southborough Select Board backs converting town clerk post to appointed and advances warrant for April town meeting. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to support Article 25, which would place a question before both annual town meeting and the April election ballot to convert the town clerk position from elected to appointed. Town Clerk Jim Hegarty, in office for nearly 11 years, appeared to advocate for the change, citing the complexity of the role and a 2020 hospitalization that briefly left the office without experienced leadership. The board also reversed a prior vote to oppose Community Preservation Committee administrative funding, supporting Article 22 by a 4-0-1 margin, and took a preliminary 4-0-1 vote to support an operating budget reflecting a 4.88 percent year-over-year increase and a $414,000 positive levy balance, contingent on unresolved health insurance figures. Approximately $700,000 in capital items including police cruisers and DPW trucks are proposed to be funded out of free cash to accelerate ordering. The board must sign the final warrant at its March 17 meeting.