Arlington Select Board Elects Hurd Chair, Confirms Brazil as First Appointed Town Clerk

ARLINGTON — March 30, 2026 — Arlington Select Board reorganizes, confirms first appointed town clerk, backs streaming fee bill. The board unanimously elected John Hurd as chair and Stephen Helmuth as vice chair at its March 30 meeting, the first since Saturday's election returned Diane Mahan to her seat and brought newcomer Len Solomon on board. In the meeting's most consequential personnel action, the board confirmed Lillian Brazil as Arlington's first-ever appointed town clerk, completing a conversion from an elected position approved over the prior three-year term by the board, Town Meeting, voters, and the state; Town Manager Jim Feeney called it "my honor" to put her forward, and Helmuth praised her office as "a fulcrum of public trust." The board also voted 4-0 — with Helmuth recused due to his Massachusetts Senate employment — to authorize Hurd to finalize and send a letter to Senator Cindy Friedman, Representative David M. Rogers, and Representative Sean Garballey urging favorable committee action on House Bill 91 and Senate Bill 2556, legislation that would extend the existing five percent cable franchise fee to streaming services and could generate $75,000 to $100,000 annually for community-access station ACMI. The board unanimously accepted a private donation from retired MIT chemistry professor Joanne Stubby — the first woman tenured in MIT's chemistry department and a 2009 National Medal of Science recipient — designated for the purchase of rectangular rapid flashing beacon pedestrian-safety equipment to be sited by town staff in consultation with the Transportation Advisory Committee.