Town Edition
Franklin County
Charlemont, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In December 2018 the people of Charlemont filled a special town meeting and deliberately chose the expensive option: roughly $1.4 million to build a fiber internet network the town would own, instead of roughly $462,000 to let a private carrier build one the carrier would own. Today Charlemont delivers its own gigabit service through a Municipal Light Plant that answers to the voters in this town, not to shareholders in another state. That is the shape of this town: small enough that the neighbors who show up to Town Meeting settle the budget, and the network, for everyone. This guide shows you how to get into that room.
Charlemont at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Franklin. Charlemont is a rural hill town of about 27 square miles in the northwest corner of the county, where the Deerfield River runs eastward through the valley and the North River joins it. Route 2, the Mohawk Trail, climbs through town, and Mohawk Trail State Forest spans Charlemont and neighboring Savoy.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Sarah Reynolds.
- Schools: Charlemont shares its schools regionally. Its youngest students attend Hawlemont Regional School in town, and grades 7 to 12 go to the Mohawk Trail Regional School District, about 758 students across eight member towns, led by Superintendent Sheryl Stanton.
How Charlemont’s Government Works
Charlemont runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Charlemont 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 they elect Charlemont’s two seats on the regional 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 Charlemont 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, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
The Mohawk Trail Regional School Committee has 16 members, two from each of the eight towns in the district. Charlemont elects two of those seats. It sets school policy, approves the district budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and Charlemont’s two seats 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 most Monday evenings at Town Hall, with appointments beginning at 6:00 pm, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held on the last Tuesday of May. The town can also call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait, the way it did in December 2018 to build the town-owned fiber network.
- Town elections: Charlemont holds its annual town election on the first Tuesday of June, the week after Town Meeting. The 2026 election was on June 2, and the next is in June 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 state election is November 3, 2026, and it will also fill Charlemont’s vacant seat in the state House.
Explore the Charlemont 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.
- Charlemont HistoryMoses Rice, the Mohawk Trail, and 1765
- DemographicsWho lives in Charlemont
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataMohawk Trail 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 Franklin County, and that includes Charlemont. 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 Charlemont
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 most Monday evenings at Town Hall, with appointments beginning at 6:00 pm, 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 plow miss, or a road question to the Highway Department at 413-339-4335 ext. 6, which owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 157 Main Street, Charlemont, MA 01339. Town Offices 413-339-4335.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-339-4335 ext. 7, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at charlemont-ma.us.
- Public schools: the Mohawk Trail Regional School District, 413-625-0192, mtrsd.org.
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.