Town Edition
Norfolk County
Brookline, Massachusetts
In 1873 Brookline did something almost no one else around Boston managed: it told the big city no. Boston was swallowing its neighbors one by one, and Brookline voters refused to be annexed, choosing to stay an independent town wrapped on three sides by the city. More than 150 years later that choice still defines the place. Brookline runs itself the old New England way, through a Town Meeting of about 240 elected residents, a five-member Select Board, and a professional Town Administrator the board hires to run the daily machine. This guide shows you how that works: the board you elect, the administrator who answers to it, the legislators who carry your voice to Boston and Washington, and the data behind it all.
The Brookline Civics Handbook
A plain-language guide to how your town works: who represents you, how decisions get made, and how to make your voice heard. Read it online.
Brookline at a Glance
Sources: US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Norfolk. Brookline sits just west of downtown Boston, bordered by the city on three sides and by Newton on the fourth.
- Government: representative town meeting. A five-member elected Select Board sets policy and appoints a Town Administrator, Charles “Chas” Carey, to run the town day to day.
- Schools: the Public Schools of Brookline, about 6,949 students across eleven schools, led by Superintendent Bella Wong.
How Brookline’s Government Works
Brookline keeps a form of government that most of the country gave up long ago, and it does it on purpose. There is no mayor with a personal mandate and no small city council. Instead the real lawmaking body is Town Meeting, roughly 240 residents elected from the town’s 16 precincts, who gather to pass the budget and the bylaws. Between those meetings a five-member Select Board, elected by the whole town, sets policy and runs the show, and the board hires a professional Town Administrator to manage the departments and draft the budget. Power is split three ways, between the people you send to Town Meeting, the board you elect, and the administrator they appoint.
Town Meeting
The legislative body. About 240 Town Meeting Members, elected from 16 precincts, plus some at-large members, vote the budget and write the town’s bylaws at sessions held each spring and fall.
Select Board
Five members elected at large to staggered three-year terms. The board sets policy, grants licenses, signs contracts, and appoints the Town Administrator who runs the town.
Town Administrator
The appointed chief executive. Hired by the Select Board, the administrator supervises the departments, appoints department heads, and prepares the budget Town Meeting votes on.
- Residents elect the Select Board, the School Committee, and their precinct’s Town Meeting Members.
- The board hires a Town Administrator and sets the town’s policy direction.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws up or down.
- You take part: public comment, board service, and a word with your precinct’s Town Meeting Members all shape what happens next.
Explore the Brookline Edition
- Town AdministratorThe town’s chief executive
- Select BoardYour five elected members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Brookline HistoryFrom Muddy River to a town that said no to Boston
- DemographicsWho lives in Brookline
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataBrookline schools by the numbers
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: generally meets Tuesday evenings in the Select Board Hearing Room on the sixth floor of Town Hall, 333 Washington Street.
- Town Meeting: the full body convenes in the spring and again in the fall, with sessions carried on Brookline Interactive Group.
- Town elections: Brookline votes in MAY, not November. The Select Board, School Committee, and Town Meeting seats were last decided on May 5, 2026.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years in November. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
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 Brookline. 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 Brookline
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard. Brookline still governs itself the old New England way, which means the rooms where decisions get made are open and close to home. Here is a concrete path from “I care about this” to “I said it on the record to the people who decide,” using rooms and phone numbers that are already open to you.
- Pick the right body. A park, a road, a pothole, your taxes, or a line in the town budget runs through the Select Board and Town Meeting. Your school, a class, a program, or the school calendar belongs to the School Committee.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board generally meets Tuesday evenings in the Select Board Hearing Room on the sixth floor of Town Hall, 333 Washington Street. Town Meeting, the town’s roughly 240 elected members, convenes each spring and fall. The School Committee meets in the evening. Agendas post in advance on the town website at brooklinema.gov.
- Know your representatives. Five Select Board members are elected at large by the whole town, and about 240 Town Meeting Members are elected from Brookline’s sixteen precincts, so the members from your precinct are your closest voice. Reach the Select Board office at 617-730-2200 or email selectboard@brooklinema.gov.
- Speak. Both the Select Board and the School Committee open their meetings to public comment. You check the agenda for the sign-up procedure, you get your minutes, and you say your piece on the record.
- Town Hall (main line): 617-730-2000
- Town Clerk (records, voter registration, elections): 617-730-2010
- Public Schools of Brookline: 617-730-2401, psbma.org
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Town Meeting Members, speak at a Select Board meeting, or apply to serve on a board.
Sources
This guide draws on public sources, refreshed July 2026: U.S. Census Bureau, Massachusetts DESE School and District Profiles, Massachusetts Legislature (malegislature.gov), and the official Brookline government website.