Conservation Commission Elects Seth Engelbourg As Chair

Seth Engelbourg was unanimously elected chair of the Conservation Commission on Thursday, replacing former chair Ian Golding. A champion of the commission’s recently passed wetland regulations overhaul and an outspoken critic of some of the Sconset Beach Preservation Fund’s more controversial proposals, Engelbourg represents continuity for the commission.

Linda Williams was elected vice chair in a 4-3 vote, with Williams, Engelbourg Mike Misurelli, and John Schaefer in the majority. Tim Braine, Mark Beale and Joe Plandowski voted against Williams, who has often been one of the commissioners most sympathetic to the Sconset Beach Preservation Fund's projects. Williams was also critical of the new wetland regulations, though she ultimately voted in favor of them. She has served on numerous town boards, often drawing controversy for her colorful remarks and confrontational style.

Engelbourg is the commission’s third chair in as many years after the Select Board ousted both of his predecessors on 3-2 votes. Engelbourg survived a 3-2 vote from the Select Board himself in 2022 after voting to require the Sconset Beach Preservation Fund to remove its geotube installation along the Sconset Bluff. Engelbourg’s term expires next year, meaning the Select Board will vote on whether to reappoint the commission’s chair for a third consecutive time next June. The vote will be a test of some critics' fear that the Select Board’s decisions represent a pattern aimed at shifting the balance of the commission in favor of the SBPF and town's joint effort to expand the geotube project by removing sitting chairs less sympathetic to the effort.

The Linda Loring Nature Foundation’s Naturalist Educator and Program Manager, Engelbourg has a Master’s degree in sustainability science from UMass Amherst, giving him an environmental science background some other commissioners lack.