SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen agreed to place an article on the Town Meeting warrant to change its name to the Southwick Select Board.
Resident Ruth Preston put the question to voters last year, but the article failed. This year, Preston asked to have the question placed on the election ballot. The Board chose to include it in the Annual Town Meeting instead.
One of the concerns about the measure is the cost of changing the name and what documents would need to be changed.
Preston plead her case to the Board this week and said she spoke with South Hadley Town Manager Michael Sullivan. That town recently changed from a Board of Selectmen to a Select Board.
“According to Michael Sullivan, he did not have to change the code book,” said Preston.
Preston said the Board letterhead is printed directly from the computer so there would be little to no printing expense.
Preston also spoke with Granville’s administrator about the process.
“They did not go to the town, they just changed the name in 2000,” she said.
Town Clerk Michelle Hill has sent an inquiry to the attorney general regarding the process.
Preston said her passion for changing the Board’s name to something gender neutral goes back to her high school days.
“When I grew up, a woman could only be a teacher, hairdresser, secretary . . . and in high school I took an exam that said I was qualified to be an engineer,” Preston said.
Her guidance counselor told her engineering would be a poor choice and that no one would want to marry her.
“That stuck with me,” said Preston, who is currently the assistant to the Southwick Planning Board, and was previously a Chamber of Commerce president and a draftsman to engineers at the phone company.
When the Board said it would put her article on the warrant, Preston asked if it could be moved up.
“Last year, it was the last article,” she said.
The Board said it would put it toward the front of the warrant.
