Town Edition
Hampden County
Blandford, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
For five years Blandford set aside twenty five thousand dollars a year toward a new home for its Porter Memorial Library. On March 18, 2024, forty six residents stood up at a Special Town Meeting and voted, without a single no, to put that whole savings on the table as the town’s own match, and in December 2025 the state answered with a 5.4 million dollar construction grant. That is what a town of this size can do when the people in the room decide to. This guide shows you how to get into that room.
Blandford at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Hampden. Blandford is a hilltown of about 52 square miles in the western part of the state, which makes it one of the larger towns by land and one of the smaller by population, at roughly 24 people to the square mile.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Cristina Ferrera.
- Schools: the Gateway Regional School District, about 721 students across six hilltowns, led by Superintendent Melissa Matarazzo.
How Blandford’s Government Works
Blandford runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Blandford 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 choose Blandford’s seat on the regional School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a 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 Blandford 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
Three 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, helps build the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
A regional committee of fifteen, elected by the voters of the six towns Gateway Regional serves. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and Blandford’s seat on the regional 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 Monday evenings about twice a month at Blandford Town Hall, 1 Russell Stage Road. The 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, as it did for the library match in March 2024.
- Town elections: Blandford votes in the spring. Recent seats were filled for terms running to 2029, so the roster on this site reflects the most recent election.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Blandford 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.
- Blandford HistoryNew Glasgow, the ship, and 1741
- DemographicsWho lives in Blandford
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataGateway 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 Hampden County, and that includes Blandford. 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 Blandford
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 on Monday evenings about twice a month at Blandford Town Hall, 1 Russell Stage Road, 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 to see how.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a washed-out culvert, or a downed limb to the Highway Department, which owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 1 Russell Stage Road, Blandford, MA 01008. Main line (413) 848-4279; the Select Board office is extension 206.
- Town Clerk & agendas: (413) 848-4279, ext. 203, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at townofblandford.gov.
- Public schools: the Gateway Regional School District, grsd.org, district office at 12 Littleville Road, Huntington.
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.