In June of 2026 the Board of Health will go from three to five members. Rep. Jenny Armini says the requesting legislation has cleared the House and is being read in the Senate. That is a big deal. It means much more than simply having two additional warm bodies at the front table for board meetings. Today the three-person board is severely constrained by the open meeting laws (OML) of the state. When we go to five, the constraints will be much reduced.
The OML says that a quorum of a public body may not “deliberate” except in open meetings that are posted and available to the public. The quorum of a three-body group is two. That means that the three members of the current Board of Health cannot talk to each other about public health issues outside of the scheduled meetings.
In July, I wrote the attorney general’s office to ask for a waiver to allow meaningful communication with my fellow Board members only on health matters, which are completely public, outside of posted open meetings. The response was quick and negative. It also contained a surprising comment from an assistant attorney general. She wrote, “I note that any time members are together, there is always the appearance of impropriety…” Needless to say, I was disappointed with that perception of me and my colleagues.
However, when the Board goes to five next year, the quorum will be three, and therefore, two members will be able to communicate with each other openly. Each of us will be able to have one on one conversations with our four colleagues. I think that will make us a better and more productive board, and I am certain that it will allow me to be a better Chair. In short, the 2026 board will not only be bigger but it will be better and potentially far more efficient.
Thinking ahead, the current board has begun to consider what the board should do with that increased capacity. The goal we have set is to help to make our town healthier by strengthening the public health services provided. But how do we learn what is needed and where? What is important? What is working today and what isn’t? It is a challenging question, but we think we have come up with a simple answer. We will ask the people who elected us to share their thoughts and concerns with us.
Early on, after we agreed to ask the residents what they thought, we decided to work with a team from UMass Boston. They have done strategic health assessments similar to this with about 80 municipalities in Massachusetts including Swampscott and Salem. We are calling the initiative CAHM, the acronym from Creating A Healthier Marblehead. We were also fortunate to receive funding from several generous organizations in town. We are very grateful for the support provided CAHM by The Rotary Club of Marblehead, The Marblehead Female Humane Society, The Mariner, and The Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor. Because of their assistance, CAHM will not require any taxpayer funds.
Dr Caitlin Coyle and her team from UMass Boston are great partners, and we have moved along fairly rapidly. In fact, on Sept. 29, our UMass Boston partners will be mailing a USPS post card to every town resident over 18 years inviting them to complete a private and absolutely confidential survey on health and wellness in our town. We expect that the survey will tell us what residents believe and what they care about.
The CAHM Health and Wellness Assessment Survey is based on the eight dimensions of Wellness: Physical, Social, Emotional, Intellectual, Spiritual, Environmental, Occupational, and Financial. To address each of those eight dimensions, the survey has to be thorough and thoughtfully designed. But, at the same time, it should be simple and easy to complete.
We believe we have reached that balance. Virtually all answers require only checking boxes. There are no long paragraphs to read or sentences to write. It may take a few minutes to complete, but the results from it will be invaluable for the board and the town to make the necessary strategic decisions for several years in the future.
The survey will be available in hard copy or digital versions. And a telephone link will be available for those needing special assistance. Pickup and drop off locations for the hard copies will be available at Abbot Library, the Jacobi Community Center, and the Mary Allen municipal building. We hope residents will complete the surveys as rapidly as possible and will encourage their neighbors to complete it as well
Once the assessment results are available, supervised focus groups will be established to explore topics identified by the survey responses as deserving examination in greater depth.
The final report –– based on the health demographic information available, the wellness assessment, and the focus groups –– will be available in the spring of 2026. A public forum will be scheduled shortly after the report is published to discuss results, evaluate conclusions, and make recommendations.
I have become very fond of my new hometown. Sometimes when I am looking out over the harbor watching the sailboats, I tend to think of Marblehead as sort of a Lake Wobegon By The Sea where “all the men are strong, all the women are good looking, and all the children are above average.“ But as a public health doc, I do know that is probably not the case. Not everyone is perfectly healthy –– even here.
Some probably have needs that a more robust public health program could help with. The Board of Health sees CAHM as a way to find out what the town wants and needs. We definitely hope to hear from all of the people that elected us. We value their comments and opinions. The greater the response to the survey, the stronger the conclusions and recommendations will be.
Thank you.
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author’s alone. They do not necessary reflect the opinion of the Board of Health which he chairs.
Tom Massaro is a Marblehead resident and Chair of the Board of Health.
