Town Government
Acton Boards & Commissions
What Boards & Commissions Are
Beyond the Select Board and the School Committee, much of Acton’s governing happens on volunteer boards and commissions. They approve new development, hear zoning appeals, protect the town’s wetlands and open space, weigh in on historic places, and guide services for residents. The town lists about forty of them. They are the rooms where an ordinary resident can have the most direct hand in a decision, and most of the people in them applied for the seat rather than ran for it.
Who does the appointing is a real question here, and Acton’s charter answers it in a table. Section 4-2 gives the Select Board the appointment of seventeen bodies, including the Planning Board, the Board of Health, the Board of Appeals, the Conservation Commission, the Board of Assessors, the Council on Aging, the Historical Commission, the Historic District Commission, the Commission on Disabilities, the Personnel Board, the Registrars of Voters and the Cemetery Commissioners. Section 3-2 gives the Town Moderator, who is elected, the appointment of the nine member Finance Committee. And section 2-1 names the short list Acton’s voters fill directly at the ballot box.
The Five Offices Acton Voters Elect
This list is shorter than most people expect, and knowing it is the cheapest civic knowledge in town. At the annual town election Acton fills exactly these:
| Select Board | 5 members, 3 year terms, staggered so that two seats come up in most years and one in every third. |
|---|---|
| Acton-Boxborough Regional School Committee | 7 of the committee’s 11 members are elected from Acton, 3 year terms. The other 4 are Boxborough’s. |
| Town Moderator | 1 seat, a 1 year term. The Moderator presides over Town Meeting and appoints the Finance Committee. |
| Acton Housing Authority | 4 members on 5 year terms, of whom the town elects 3 and the state appoints 1. |
| Trustees of the Acton Memorial Library | 3 members, 3 year terms, alongside 6 corporate members. |
Two things sit just outside that table and both are worth knowing. The Acton Water District elects its own commissioners to three year terms at the same election, because it is an independent district chartered by the Legislature rather than a town department. And Town Meeting itself elects several boards of trustees from the floor by voice vote, including the Trustees of the Acton Firefighters Relief Fund, the Charlotte Goodnow Fund, the Elizabeth White Fund, the West Acton Citizens’ Library, and the Assistant Town Moderator. If you are in the hall, you are one of the electors.
An election is also not the only moment voters get a say over these seats. Acton’s charter carries a recall, in section 2-2, and it reaches any elected office except the trustees. Twenty five voters file an affidavit with the Town Clerk to start it, the petition has to come back within twenty eight days carrying the signatures of at least twenty percent of the town’s voters, and if the officeholder does not resign the Select Board calls an election. There is one deliberate guard on it: no recall can be started against anyone in their first six months in office.
Key Boards & Commissions
- Planning Board reviews subdivisions, site plans, and major development. Five members, appointed by the Select Board to five year terms.
- Board of Appeals hears variances and special permits. Three members and three associate members, appointed by the Select Board.
- Conservation Commission protects Acton’s wetlands, rivers and open space. Seven members, appointed by the Select Board.
- Board of Health oversees inspections, clinics and public health rules. Five members, appointed by the Select Board to three year terms.
- Finance Committee reviews the budget and advises Town Meeting on the spending. Nine members, and the Town Moderator appoints them.
- Community Preservation Committee recommends how the town spends its Community Preservation Act money on open space, historic preservation, recreation and affordable housing, and Town Meeting votes each project.
- Historical Commission and Historic District Commission work on the town’s historic places and the districts that protect them.
- Volunteer Coordinating Committee is the one to know first. Acton runs a standing committee whose whole job is matching residents to the seats that are open.
For the full roster, current members, vacancies and schedules, see the town’s own Boards and Committees listing.
How to Serve
- Find an opening on the town’s boards and committees page, or ask the Volunteer Coordinating Committee, which exists for exactly this.
- Submit a letter of interest or application to the Select Board office at 472 Main Street, or to sb@actonma.gov.
- Interview if asked, and await appointment.
- Serve: attend the public meetings and help make decisions for your town.
There is a second door, and it is open to you before you can vote. Acton’s charter lets any ten registered voters put an article straight onto the Annual Town Meeting warrant, under section 3-5. Ten signatures, and the whole town has to take a vote on your question. You cannot sign it yourself until you are registered, but nothing stops a sixteen year old from writing the article and finding the ten people who will.
Serving on a board is one of the most direct ways to shape Acton.
MassCivics last checked this page on September 13, 2026.