The Town of Dalton has a five-member Select Board with staggered three-year terms. A professional staff that works for the Select Board includes the Town Manager, Town Counsel and a full-time Executive Assistant.

The members of the Select Board are the Town’s Chief Elected Officials and play an important role in coordinating the Towns policy and its strategic direction. This can occur in many ways; including coordination of other boards’ activities, hearing appeals and resolving problems that are not resolved at lower levels, and offering direction to their professional administrator, the Town Manager.

The Select Board has several specific areas of authority. These include:

The Power to Prepare the Town Meeting Warrant. By law, the Select Board is charged with calling town elections and town meetings and with publishing the warrants for them.

The Power to Make Appointments to Town Boards and Offices. The Select Board ratifies appointments to an array of positions, boards and committees. The Select Board seeks to ensure that the appointment process is always open, fair and properly implemented. By a legislative approved Town Manager Act, the Town Manager is charged with providing nominees for Select Board ratification.

The Power to Employ Town Counsel. No town official can be defended, nor can he or she bring suit through the Town Counsel without the Select Board’s approval. Town Counsel must also approve any agreement that binds the town legally.
The Power to Employ a Professional Administrative Staff. The complexity of running even a small town can be overwhelming to a part-time Select Board. The Town of Dalton has a professional administrator to assist in this task.

The Power to Sign Warrants for the Payment of All Town Bills. Under a special Town Managers Act of Legislature and through the Select Board, the Town of Dalton has authorized the Town Manager to approve warrants for payments.

The Authority to Grant Licenses and Permits. The Select Board is the local licensing authority, issuing licenses for things such as sale of alcoholic beverages, entertainment, automobile dealers, storage and sale of gasoline, restaurants, pool tables and the like. These are subject to an annual renewal process that generally occurs in December.

The Select Board is the local licensing authority, issuing licenses for things such as the sale of alcoholic beverages, entertainment, automobile dealers, storage and sale of gasoline, restaurants, pool tables and the like. These are subject to an annual renewal process that generally occurs in December.

For more information regarding alcohol licensing please visit MassGov.

Under the Open Meeting Law (G.L.c. 39, ß23A-23C), the Select Board must operate in a very open and public manner; only in select circumstances governed by Massachusetts General Law may the Select Board conduct business without the right of the public to be present. The law is based on the premise that the public is entitled to see the process of government, and not simply its result. All meetings must be filed at least 48 hours prior (including Saturdays, but not Sundays or legal Holidays) before the convening of the meeting with the Town Clerk. These meetings will be posted on the Town Clerks calendar and are generally held at the Senior Center every 2nd and 4th Monday at 7 p.m. Contact the Town Hall for further information.