Stockbridge Study Panel Eyes Alternate-Member Option, Schedules June Select Board Expansion Meeting

LENOX — May 7, 2026 — Stockbridge's Five-Member Select Board Study Committee met May 7 to advance its review of whether the town should expand its governing board from three to five members. The nine-member volunteer panel, chaired by Select Board member Georgia Marsden, heard a report from Marsden on Lanesboro's recent expansion — driven by a single petitioner seeking greater diversity, with a current total stipend of $4,800 that the town is considering level-funding across five seats. Committee member Peter Strauss proposed researching whether Massachusetts law permits a Select Board alternate who would attend all meetings and vote when a regular member is unavailable; the committee noted Stockbridge previously needed state legislative approval to add alternates to its Conservation Commission. Member Cheryl Russa-Turrett cautioned that towns transitioning to five-member boards tend to skew younger demographically than Stockbridge does, and flagged that Groton reversed its expansion back to three members after problems emerged. The committee voted to meet next on June 29 at 11 a.m. and agreed to invite the Holliston study committee — whose published report members called the most rigorous available example — to join that session by Zoom.