Town Edition
Barnstable County
Eastham, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Well into this century, Eastham was the only town on Cape Cod with no public water system, and every house drank from its own private well. When contamination from the old town landfill reached that well water, the fix did not come from a mayor or a manager. It came from your neighbors, in a room. At Town Meeting in 2014 the voters chose to build a municipal water system, and a year later they came back and voted to run town water to the whole town, on their own tax bills. That is the shape of power here. Eastham runs on an open Town Meeting, where every registered voter is a member and the budget is decided by whoever walks in the door. This guide shows you where those rooms are and how to get into them.
Eastham at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Barnstable. Eastham sits near the elbow of Cape Cod, about 14 square miles of land between Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic, and much of it lies inside the Cape Cod National Seashore.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Rich Bienvenue.
- Schools: Eastham runs one school of its own, Eastham Elementary, about 178 students, and sends grades 6 through 12 to the Nauset Regional schools it shares with Brewster, Orleans and Wellfleet. Superintendent Glenn Brand leads the Nauset district.
How Eastham’s Government Works
Eastham runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Eastham 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 Eastham Elementary. 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 Eastham 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, who oversee Eastham Elementary. The committee sets school policy and approves the elementary school budget.
- 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 most Monday evenings, roughly twice a month, at Eastham Town Hall, 2500 State Highway. 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 normally held in early May, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The Town Moderator, Scott Kerry, presides.
- Town elections: Eastham holds its annual town election in the spring. The 2026 election was held on May 19, when the clerk counted 1,418 ballots, about 29 percent of registered voters. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Eastham 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.
- Eastham History1651, the windmill, and the Outer Cape
- DemographicsWho lives in Eastham
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataEastham 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 Barnstable County, and that includes Eastham. 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 Eastham
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 Eastham Town Hall, 2500 State Highway, 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: 2500 State Highway, Eastham, MA 02642. Main line 508-240-5900, which reaches the Town Manager’s office and the Select Board office.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 774-801-3223, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at eastham-ma.gov.
- Public schools: Eastham Elementary and the Nauset Regional district, nausetschools.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.