Burlington Selectmen Vote To Advance Gender-Neutral Renaming

BURLINGTON, MA — The Burlington Board of Selectmen voted Monday to advance a proposal to give itself a gender-neutral name: the Select Board.

The proposal will need approval from the January Town Meeting and the state, the latter of which has consistently approved such changes in recent years.

The Board discussed the idea at a recent meeting and received "overwhelmingly positive letters and emails from residents," according to Town Administrator Paul Sagarino.

Selectmen discussed going by "Executive Board" or "Town Council," but went with the name closest to the current one.

Burlington would follow in the footsteps of countless other municipalities in the state including Concord, Sudbury, Somerville, Brookline and Needham. Until recently, Melrose was once the only Board of Aldermen left in the state, but made the switch to "City Council" to be gender neutral. In September, Woburn's City Council members voted to rename themselves "councilors", rather than aldermen.

The term "selectmen" traces back to the 17th century, when New England was first colonized and the town meeting form of government was established.

The full meeting is available here, from BCAT.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.