Brookline To Consider Changing Name of Board Of Selectmen

BROOKLINE, MA — Question: Should women who serve on the Board of Selectmen be referred to as selectmen? Or would something more gender neutral be more appropriate? What if all selectmen were called selectwomen? Would that work? Or should the current term be scrapped for something else?

It's an issue that has brought two residents to two different conclusions, and now they plan to bring their proposals to Town Meeting in November.

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Town Meeting Member Michael A. Burstein, of precinct 12, brought forward a proposal to amend the town bylaws and replace all instances of the word “selectmen” with “selectwomen.” Not in addition to, but in lieu of "selectman."

"To be quite frank, I wanted to make a point here," said Burstein, who is also a member of the board of Library Trustees.

Over the past few years, as Burstein has watched a number of municipalities make efforts to use gender neutral language for their select boards, he has learned that the change isn't always welcome. For the father of 8-year-old twin girls, that's concerning.

"A handful have changed and are more gender neutral, which is good," he said. "But I found it interesting that when it started getting discussed here, a handful dismissed the thought of it outright."

Women can call themselves "selectwomen" if they wanted, he heard people say. But, he wanted to know, what about the opposite? He knew changing the term to "selectwomen" and allowing men to call themselves "selectmen" if they chose would be a reach for many. But wasn't it the same thing? It's a necessary debate for the town to have, he said.

"I wanted to propose this to point out that the way we perceive things affects the opportunities we see for ourselves," Burstein said. "Changing how we refer to people in executive positions may seem like an unnecessary change, but perhaps it could help set an expectation that women are wanted and needed in positions of authority."

He noted the low numbers of women in executive positions.

"If you count up all the mayors, aldermen and city councilors in Massachusetts, there are 1,781 positions and only 431 are held by women. It's like 24 percent."

It's little better at the Federal level, he added, with 20 women in the senate and only three in the Supreme Court. In Brookline, two of the five Board of Selectman members are women.

"I would be delighted if Brookline actually chose to do that [vote for changing the bylaws to 'selectwoman']," Burstein said. "That said, I don't think that's what we're going to end up doing."

Burstein speculated that the Town Meeting would either end up voting to refer the question to the committee on town organization and structure, or choose to go the gender-neutral route.

Select Board?

That's where Alex Coleman, a member of the town's Commission for Diversity Inclusion & Community Relations, comes in. He has proposed just such a change to the language in the town's bylaws. Rather than refer to the Board of Selectmen by any gender pronoun, he wants the town to consider making the subject-related language gender-neutral for all current and future documents.

Coleman brought forward Article 19, which proposes substituting “board of selectmen” with “select board.” As for “selectman" or "selectwoman," or variations thereof, he proposes using the words “select board member(s)” or “member(s) of the select board” in each and every place they appear in the Town bylaws and in all currently active and future Town documents and communications. He also proposes that the town amend the bylaws to require the use of gender-neutral language in all currently active and future Town documents and communications.

Not just politics

"We have a situation," Burstein said, and not just in politics.

It's an issue that's close to his heart as he teaches his girls to pursue their goals and dreams in a world where gender equality still has a long way to go.

"We need more women in politics, and to make it clear that there should be no barriers."