An analysis, written by this project
Board composition
How the town’s boards are made up — which are biggest, how fast each turns over, and whether the establishment is growing. The seats barely move; about a third of the people in them change every year.
lunenburgbudgetproject.org — written by the Lunenburg Budget Project, an independent tool for residents. Not affiliated with the Town of Lunenburg, the School Committee or the school district. The document this page renders: /docs/analyses/board-composition.md
What this report counts
SEATS IN THE LISTING. One row is one named holder of one seat in one year. Not employees: a post somebody is hired into is on the town personnel report instead.
The boards are getting harder to fill: full six years ago, short today
Empty chairs are the constraint on what the boards can do, not the seat count.
A charter fixes how many seats a board has. Whether anybody is in them is the part that moves. Across the 22 bodies that state a plain membership, 101 names are printed against 116 chartered seats in FY2025 — 87%. Six years earlier the same measure ran at 107%, with more names printed than seats because mid-year replacements are listed beside the people they replaced.
What it rests on Seats stated in each body’s own heading against the names printed beneath it, over bodies whose membership is a number rather than a range.
What it does not show Whether a seat was filled later in the year. The listing is a snapshot taken once.
Some boards replace half their seats a year while others barely change
A seat is far easier to get on some boards than on others.
The town-wide turnover figure hides a wide spread: the churn is not shared evenly across the boards. Across 37 boards of three seats or more, the median is 32% of seats changing hands a year. GCTF ADVISORS runs highest at 71%; CABLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE is among the steadiest at 0%.
What it rests on Names matched between consecutive years of the listing, per body, over bodies appearing in both years of at least two pairs.
What it does not show Why any board turns over faster. A board people leave and a board whose terms are short look identical here.
It is not a small group wearing many hats — almost everyone holds one seat
The work is spread across many residents rather than concentrated in a few.
A common assumption about small-town boards, and this listing does not support it. 60 distinct people hold the 182 posts listed in FY2025. 9 of them hold more than one, and none holds more than two.
What it rests on Distinct names against rows in the FY2025 listing.
What it does not show Anything about influence. Holding one seat and holding two says nothing about what either person decides.
Those are the answers this report could reach from the documents behind it. If the one you came for is not among them, ask us — no name or email needed.
How the town’s boards are made up, how big they are and how fast they turn over, FY2016 to FY2025. Looking for a seat? That is open seats.
Where the seats are
- 50 smaller bodies and single-holder posts112 people · 61.5%
- COUNCIL ON AGING11 people · 6.0%
- ARCHITECTURAL PRESERVATION DISTRICT COMMISSION (APDC)8 people · 4.4%
- PUBLIC RECORDS ACCESS OFFICERS8 people · 4.4%
- CULTURAL COUNCIL7 people · 3.8%
- FINANCE COMMITTEE7 people · 3.8%
- LIBRARY TRUSTEES7 people · 3.8%
- LUNENBURG MUNICIPAL BUILDING DESIGN COMMITTEE7 people · 3.8%
- BOARD OF HEALTH5 people · 2.7%
- CONSERVATION COMMISSION5 people · 2.7%
- ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE5 people · 2.7%
COUNCIL ON AGING is the biggest body in the town at 11 seats. 26 posts have a single holder.
Are the chartered seats filled?
| fiscal year | chartered seats | names printed | filled |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | 138 | 148 | 107% |
| FY2021 | 115 | 118 | 103% |
| FY2022 | 93 | 95 | 102% |
| FY2023 | 98 | 103 | 105% |
| FY2024 | 111 | 103 | 93% |
| FY2025 | 116 | 101 | 87% |
A board’s charter fixes how many seats it has, so the seat COUNT is not a trend — it is the charter. Whether the seats have anybody in them is the part that moves, and it has moved a long way. Above 100%% is not an overfull board: it is a mid-year replacement printed beside the person replaced.
| FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| stayed from the year before | 145 | 158 | 163 | 115 | 144 | 121 | 132 | 115 | 106 |
| new that year | 57 | 48 | 51 | 87 | 58 | 67 | 52 | 56 | 67 |
| gone from the year before | 75 | 44 | 43 | 99 | 58 | 81 | 56 | 69 | 65 |
19 of the 703 people listed at any point across the ten years appear in all of them.
Which boards change most
Seats changing hands each year, over bodies of three seats or more. years compared is how many times the body appears in two consecutive years and can therefore be differenced — the listing is readable for ten years but not consecutively in all of them, so a body with 5 has been measured five times and one with 2 twice. A one-seat post whose holder changed reads as a hundred per cent and is one person leaving a job, so it is left out. The median across the 37 bodies here is 32%.
| board or committee | seats | years compared | seats changing hands |
|---|---|---|---|
| GCTF ADVISORS | 3.5 | 3 | 71% |
| MONTACHUSETT REGIONAL VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE | 8.0 | 3 | 67% |
| STORM WATER TASK FORCE | 3.3 | 9 | 63% |
| AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES COMMITTEE | 3.8 | 3 | 56% |
| ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE | 4.0 | 4 | 56% |
| GREEN COMMUNITIES COMMITTEE | 3.7 | 3 | 54% |
| PUBLIC RECORDS ACCESS OFFICERS | 8.8 | 8 | 49% |
| LUNENBURG MUNICIPAL BUILDING DESIGN COMMITTEE | 5.5 | 2 | 46% |
| HISTORICAL COMMISSION | 4.1 | 9 | 42% |
| Sewer Commission - 1/2 | 5.4 | 8 | 40% |
| Park Commission | 4.1 | 4 | 39% |
| CAPITAL PLANNING COMMITTEE | 6.2 | 9 | 39% |
| TAXATION AID COMMITTEE | 4.8 | 4 | 37% |
| AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION | 5.6 | 9 | 37% |
| FINANCE COMMITTEE | 7.2 | 6 | 36% |
| Planning Board | 5.8 | 8 | 35% |
| PERSONNEL COMMITTEE | 5.6 | 8 | 35% |
| Board of Selectmen | 5.0 | 3 | 33% |
| School Committee | 5.1 | 8 | 32% |
| Housing Authority | 4.3 | 8 | 30% |
| CULTURAL COUNCIL | 8.2 | 7 | 30% |
| CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE | 9.0 | 2 | 28% |
| Parks Commission | 5.0 | 3 | 27% |
| Cemetery Commission | 3.3 | 8 | 24% |
| Select Board | 5.2 | 4 | 24% |
| CONSERVATION COMMISSION | 7.1 | 9 | 23% |
| Board of Assessors | 3.1 | 8 | 20% |
| Board of Health | 5.2 | 8 | 19% |
| Library Trustees | 7.2 | 8 | 19% |
| PUBLIC ACCESS CABLE COMMITTEE | 4.7 | 9 | 18% |
| COUNCIL ON AGING- - (11 members) | 11.5 | 2 | 17% |
| ARCHITECTURAL PRESERVATION DISTRICT COMMISSION (APDC) | 7.1 | 7 | 17% |
| COUNCIL ON AGING | 11.3 | 5 | 15% |
| ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS | 4.9 | 9 | 15% |
| TOWN CLOCK WINDERS | 6.2 | 2 | 12% |
| TOWN CLOCKWINDERS | 5.4 | 5 | 11% |
| CABLE ADVISORY COMMITTEE | 3.0 | 2 | 0% |
The bodies, by size
FY2025, filled seats only.
| board, committee or post | people |
|---|---|
| COUNCIL ON AGING | 11 |
| ARCHITECTURAL PRESERVATION DISTRICT COMMISSION (APDC) | 8 |
| PUBLIC RECORDS ACCESS OFFICERS | 8 |
| CULTURAL COUNCIL | 7 |
| FINANCE COMMITTEE | 7 |
| LIBRARY TRUSTEES | 7 |
| LUNENBURG MUNICIPAL BUILDING DESIGN COMMITTEE | 7 |
| BOARD OF HEALTH | 5 |
| CONSERVATION COMMISSION | 5 |
| ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE | 5 |
| HOUSING AUTHORITY | 5 |
| SELECT BOARD | 5 |
| SEWER COMMISSION - 1/2 | 5 |
| STORM WATER TASK FORCE | 5 |
| TOWN CLOCKWINDERS | 5 |
| AGRICULTURAL COMMISSION | 4 |
| ELECTION WORKERS | 4 |
| GREEN COMMUNITIES COMMITTEE | 4 |
| HISTORICAL COMMISSION | 4 |
| PARKS COMMISSION | 4 |
| PLANNING BOARD | 4 |
| PUBLIC ACCESS CABLE COMMITTEE | 4 |
| SCHOOL COMMITTEE | 4 |
| ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS | 4 |
| AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES COMMITTEE | 3 |
| BOARD OF ASSESSORS | 3 |
| CAPITAL PLANNING COMMITTEE | 3 |
| CEMETERY COMMISSION | 3 |
| MILES | 3 |
| Associate Members | 2 |
| Associate Members (2) | 2 |
| Ex Officio Members | 2 |
| TOWN COUNSEL | 2 |
| TRUST FUND COMMISSION | 2 |
| ASSISTANT DAM KEEPER | 1 |
| ASSISTANT TAX COLLECTOR/TREASURER | 1 |
| ASSISTANT TOWN CLERK | 1 |
| ASST. INSPECTOR OF PLUMBING/GAS | 1 |
| ASST. INSPECTOR OF WIRING | 1 |
| BUILDING COMMISSIONER/ZONING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER | 1 |
| CONSTABLE | 1 |
| COUNCIL ON AGING DIRECTOR | 1 |
| DAM KEEPER | 1 |
| DPW DIRECTOR | 1 |
| FIELD DRIVER | 1 |
| FIRE CHIEF/ EMERGENCY MANAGEMENTDIRECTOR/ FOREST WARDEN | 1 |
| HAZARDOUS WASTE COORDINATOR | 1 |
| HEARINGS OFFICER | 1 |
| INSPECTOR OF PLUMBING/GAS | 1 |
| INSPECTOR OF WEIGHTS & MEASURES | 1 |
| INSPECTOR OF WIRING | 1 |
| LOCAL CENSUS LIAISON | 1 |
| MART ADVISORY BOARD | 1 |
| MODERATOR | 1 |
| MONTACHUSETT METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION | 1 |
| POLICE CHIEF | 1 |
| TAX COLLECTOR/TREASURER/TAX CUSTODIAN | 1 |
| TOWN CLERK | 1 |
| TREE WARDEN | 1 |
| VETERANS SERVICES AGENT | 1 |
Seats by kind
| FY2016 | FY2017 | FY2018 | FY2019 | FY2020 | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elected seats — filled by the voters | 57 | 58 | 56 | 53 | 59 | 56 | 53 | 56 | 51 | 53 |
| Appointed board seats — filled by the Select Board | 69 | 72 | 72 | 79 | 103 | 106 | 86 | 92 | 79 | 79 |
What this cannot show
- Why anybody left a board. A term ending, a resignation and a move out of town look identical here.
- Whether a seat sat empty between one holder and the next.
- Hours, or what a seat asks of the person in it.
- Anything about pay. This listing never states it, and no salary is inferred here from a post’s name.
How well we read it
Most headings state their own membership, so the page checks itself: 492 rows sit under a board where the stated size and the printed names agree, 299 where they differ, and 1,368 under a post that states no size. A difference is a vacancy, a mid-year replacement printed beside the person it replaced, or our reading of a page set in two columns — a note about our extraction rather than about the town.
Where it comes from
- Every board and committee, its members and their term-expiry years, FY2016 to FY2025 — the ELECTED OFFICIALS and APPOINTED OFFICIALS listing in each annual town report — nine pages a year. Read by scripts/extract_personnel.py. The format is not the same every year: the elected pages set headings in title case and the appointed pages in capitals, two or three pages a year are set in two columns, and five years print the section under no running header at all.
Where this came from
Nothing on this page is an official document. It was written here, from documents the town and district published and from records obtained by request, and it has not been reviewed or endorsed by the Town of Lunenburg, the School Committee, the Finance Committee or Lunenburg Public Schools. The report index says the same thing at more length, and lists every analysis alongside the data underneath it.
This page renders the document itself, which is the source of truth: there is one copy of every sentence and every figure here, not a transcription of one.
Every other report
Every analysis this project has written, in one index, is at reports.