North Brookfield Select Board Interviews Town Administrator Candidate, Starts Police Chief Search

NORTH BROOKFIELD — October 21, 2025 — North Brookfield Select Board interviews town administrator candidate and launches internal police chief search. The board questioned Ron Affante, a former Belchertown Select Board member and former Brookfield town administrator, who cited the town's reliance on roughly $400,000 in stabilization funds and free cash to close the fiscal year 2026 budget as the most urgent challenge facing the town. Affante attributed his departure from Brookfield to unresolvable board factionalism, saying the constant friction "wasn't worth it anymore." The board scheduled a closed deliberation for Monday, October 27. On the police chief vacancy, a board member reported overwhelming public support for an internal hire and the board voted unanimously to post the position internally for 10 business days. In a reversal of a vote two weeks prior, the board also voted to re-enter the process for a roughly $1 million state STRAP sidewalk grant for North Main Street, though members cautioned that a potential $189,000 match requirement had only informally been described as waivable, and appointed Jason Betritus as grant administrator. The board approved moving to combined quarterly water and sewer billing starting July 2026 and accepted a $4,312.74 cemetery bequest from the estate of Robert Salem for road repaving at Walnut Grove Cemetery.