Plymouth County
Abington, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On a Saturday morning in September 2014, 981 Abington voters stood up in the high school to be counted on a single question, and the standing count came back 961 to 20. That vote borrowed $96,400,000 and built the co-located middle and high school on Gliniewicz Way. Twelve years later the town answered the same kind of question seven times in one day. On May 16, 2026, 2,524 residents cast ballots on seven separate Proposition 2 1/2 questions, one for each part of the town budget, and they said yes to six: the Fire Department, the police station, the schools, public works, the Council on Aging and the library. Question Seven, for the Town Hall, drew 1,087 yes to 1,412 no and did not pass. That is the shape of power in Abington. A number has to win in a hall where any registered voter can stand up and speak, and then it has to win again on a ballot any registered voter can mark. This guide shows you where both rooms are and how to walk into them.
Abington at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Plymouth. Abington packs 17,062 residents into 9.96 square miles between Brockton and the South Shore, about 1,713 people to the square mile, and it borders Holbrook, Weymouth, Rockland, Whitman and Brockton.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Michael A. Maresco.
- Schools: Abington Public Schools, about 2,132 students across five schools, led by Superintendent Felicia Moschella.
How Abington’s Government Works
Abington runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Abington is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Manager to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Manager.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Abington is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
5 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Manager.
Town Manager
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
5 members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Manager and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: as of September 2025 the board typically meets at 5:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of each month, at Town Hall, 500 Gliniewicz Way. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s website, so check it before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The 2026 Annual Town Meeting was held on Monday, May 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the Middle and High School auditorium, with Town Moderator Shawn P. Reilly presiding.
- Town elections: Abington votes on a Saturday in the spring, and all five precincts vote in one building, Beaver Brook Elementary School at 1 Ralph G Hamlin Jr. Lane. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on Saturday, April 25, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 state primary is Tuesday, September 1 and the state election is Tuesday, November 3.
Explore the Abington Edition
- Town Manager’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Abington History1712, the shoe shops, and Island Grove
- DemographicsWho lives in Abington
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataAbington schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Plymouth County, and that includes Abington. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Abington
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, and police or fire go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board typically meets at 5:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Mondays at Town Hall, 500 Gliniewicz Way, and the agenda is posted in advance on the town’s website.
- Know your members. Five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a sewer problem to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 500 Gliniewicz Way, Abington, MA 02351. Main line and Town Manager’s office 781-982-2100. Open Monday to Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Town Clerk & elections: 781-982-2112, for records, voter registration and election results.
- Public schools: Abington Public Schools, 1071 Washington Street, 781-982-2150.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.