Town Edition
Norfolk County
Avon, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Article 21 on Avon’s 2025 Town Meeting warrant did not come from a board or a committee. It came from one resident, who asked her neighbors to rewrite the town charter and grow the Select Board from three members to five. That is how power moves in a town of fewer than 5,000 people: you write your idea down, you put it on the warrant, and the whole town votes. Avon is small enough that a single article, or a single vote, can change the shape of the government. This guide shows you how to get into the room where that happens.
Avon at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Norfolk. Avon covers about 4.6 square miles roughly 17 miles south of Boston, bordered by Brockton to the south, Stoughton to the west, Randolph to the northeast, and Holbrook to the east. Much of its economy sits in the Avon Industrial Park, about 500 acres of warehouses and firms along Route 24.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Jonathan L. Beder.
- Schools: Avon Public Schools, about 675 students in two schools, led by Superintendent Lori A. Jodoin.
How Avon’s Government Works
Avon runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Avon is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Select Board to set policy between meetings and a five-member School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Administrator 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 Administrator.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Avon 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
3 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 Administrator.
Town Administrator
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 town-wide by Avon voters. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 3 members of the Select Board and the 5 members of the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Administrator 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: meets on Thursday evenings, usually twice a month, at Avon Town Hall, 65 East Main Street. Each agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar 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. Every registered voter in Avon may attend, speak, and vote.
- Town elections: Avon holds its Annual Town Election in the spring. In April 2026, 323 ballots were cast, about 8.8% of registered voters, which tells you how much a single vote is worth in a town this size. The next annual election is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Avon Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour three board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Avon HistoryShakespeare, shoemakers, and 1888
- DemographicsWho lives in Avon
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataAvon 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 Norfolk County, and that includes Avon. 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 Avon
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 meets Thursday evenings, usually twice a month, at Avon Town Hall, 65 East Main Street, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. Three 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 missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 65 East Main Street, Avon, MA 02322. Main line 508-588-0414.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-588-0414 Ext. 1013, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at avon-ma.gov.
- Public schools: Avon Public Schools, (508) 588-0230, avon.k12.ma.us.
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.