Town Edition
Norfolk County
Cohasset, Massachusetts
Photo: Tichnor Bros. Inc., Boston, Mass., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
On Saturday, May 9, 2026, 1,679 Cohasset residents walked into three precincts and chose the people who run the town: two Select Board seats, the School Committee, the Town Moderator, the Town Clerk, and the elected boards that handle health, planning, water and the harbor. That was about 26 percent of the town’s registered voters, and the residents who came settled every one of those seats for all 8,381 people who live here. The same ballot carried one big borrowing question, a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion to rebuild the town-owned building at 135 King Street for public safety, and the voters turned it down, 900 to 715. That is the shape of power in Cohasset: the budget is voted in a hall where every registered voter can stand and speak, and the biggest borrowing has to clear a ballot every registered voter can mark. This guide shows you where those rooms are and how to get into them.
Cohasset at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Norfolk. Cohasset covers about ten square miles on the Atlantic shore where greater Boston Harbor gives way to Massachusetts Bay, and it is an exclave of Norfolk County, cut off from the rest of the county by the Plymouth County towns of Hingham and Hull.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Michelle Leary.
- Schools: Cohasset Public Schools, about 1,382 students across four schools, led by Superintendent Sarah Shannon.
How Cohasset’s Government Works
Cohasset runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Cohasset is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Manager 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 Manager.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Cohasset 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
5 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 Manager.
Town Manager
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 Cohasset voters. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Manager 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 every other Tuesday evening at Willcutt Commons, 91 Sohier Street. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center, so check it 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. The Moderator, Robert D. Hillman, presides.
- Town elections: Cohasset votes in the spring, across three precincts. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on Saturday, May 9, 2026. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Cohasset Edition
- Town Manager’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Cohasset History1670, the harbor, and Minot’s Ledge
- DemographicsWho lives in Cohasset
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataCohasset 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 Cohasset. 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 Cohasset
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 every other Tuesday evening at Willcutt Commons, 91 Sohier Street, and the agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center.
- Know your members. Five 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: 41 Highland Avenue, Cohasset, MA 02025. Main line 781-383-4100, which reaches the Select Board and Town Manager’s office.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 781-383-4100, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at cohassetma.gov.
- Public schools: Cohasset Public Schools, cohassetk12.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.