Town Edition
Middlesex County
Concord, Massachusetts
Photo: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On March 31, 2026, two people ran for one seat on the Concord Select Board, and the 3,153 residents who cast a ballot settled it 1,651 to 1,468. A margin of 183 votes decided who sits in that chair for three years. The same ballot filled the Moderator’s chair, a School Committee seat and a Housing Authority seat, so the voters who turned out chose four offices at once. Here is the part that surprises people: the Select Board does not vote Concord’s budget. Town Meeting does, and Town Meeting is not a committee you get elected to. Every registered voter in Concord is already a member, which means the room that spends the money is a room you can walk into. This guide shows you where those rooms are and how to get into them.
Concord at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · Secretary of the Commonwealth, voter enrollment · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Middlesex. Concord covers 24.5 square miles of land, about 754 people to the square mile, and the town votes in five precincts.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Kerry A. Lafleur.
- Schools: Concord Public Schools, about 1,868 students across four schools, led by Superintendent Dr. Laurie Hunter. The high school, Concord-Carlisle, belongs to a separate regional district that Concord shares with Carlisle.
How Concord’s Government Works
Concord runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Concord 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 Concord 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
7 members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. 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 on a published calendar in the Select Board Meeting Room at the Town House, 22 Monument Square, starting at 6:00 PM. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center, so check it before you go.
- Town Meeting: one Annual Town Meeting a year, on a Monday night and continuing on the nights it needs, at Concord-Carlisle High School, 500 Walden Street. The 2026 meeting ran April 27 to 29 and the 2027 meeting is set for May 17. The Moderator, Karlen J. Reed, presides, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- The warrant comes to your house. The Annual Town Meeting warrant, which is the list of everything the meeting will vote on, is published on the town’s website and mailed to households as an insert in The Concord Bridge. The 2026 warrant went out in the February 20 edition. Reading it before the meeting is how you find out what is actually being decided.
- Getting into the room: the town provides on-site childcare through Concord Recreation for children three to eleven, booked and paid in advance, hearing assistive devices at the registration desks, and rides for seniors through the Council on Aging at 978-318-3020. If you need another accommodation, the ADA Coordinator is Assistant Town Manager Jessica Porter at 978-318-3028, and the town asks for a week’s notice.
- Town elections: Concord votes in the spring, across five precincts. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on Tuesday March 31.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The state primary is September 1, 2026.
Explore the Concord 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.
- Concord History1635, the library, and the light plant
- DemographicsWho lives in Concord
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataConcord 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 Middlesex County, and that includes Concord. 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 Concord
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 a published calendar at the Town House, 22 Monument Square, 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 at 978-318-3200, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town House: 22 Monument Square, Concord, MA 01742. Main line 978-318-3100, Town Manager’s office 978-318-3000, Select Board office 978-318-3001.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-318-3080, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at concordma.gov.
- Public schools: Concord Public Schools, 978-318-1500, concordps.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.