Town Edition
Essex County
Essex, Massachusetts
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
An acre beside the Essex River was set aside for a shipyard in 1668, and Essex went on to build more two-masted wooden fishing schooners than any other place. That trade is not a museum piece. The Story family yard beside the Essex Shipbuilding Museum still builds and launches wooden ships in the Essex tradition, so when Town Meeting votes on what happens along this riverfront, it is deciding the future of a living craft. And in Essex the meeting really is the government. At the annual town election on May 11, 2026, 760 residents cast ballots, about one registered voter in four, and any registered voter can walk into Town Meeting, stand up, speak, and vote on the budget and the bylaws. This guide shows you how to take your seat.
Essex at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Essex. The town sits on the Essex River within the Great Marsh, on the western edge of Cape Ann, about 26 miles north of Boston.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Board of Selectmen and an appointed Town Administrator, Brendhan Zubricki.
- Schools: the Manchester Essex Regional School District, shared with Manchester-by-the-Sea, about 1,156 students, led by Superintendent Pamela Beaudoin.
How Essex’s Government Works
Essex runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Essex is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Board of Selectmen to set policy between meetings, and they help elect the regional School Committee that oversees the schools. The Board of Selectmen 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 Board of Selectmen, 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 Essex is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. Town Moderator Jeffrey D. Jones, re-elected in May 2026 to a three-year term, presides over the meeting and runs the debate. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Board of Selectmen
3 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 Board of Selectmen. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
7 members, elected by the voters of Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea together. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 3 members of the Board of Selectmen and Essex’s share of the regional School Committee.
- The Board of Selectmen 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
- Board of Selectmen: meets twice a month on Monday evenings at Essex Town Hall, 30 Martin Street. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring, and a second Town Meeting follows in the fall. The town can also call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- Town elections: Essex votes in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on May 11. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Essex Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Board of SelectmenYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Essex HistoryShipyards, schooners, and Chebacco Parish
- DemographicsWho lives in Essex
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataManchester Essex Regional 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 Essex County, and that includes Essex. 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 Essex
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 Board of Selectmen. Schools go to the regional School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Board of Selectmen meets twice a month on Monday evenings at Essex Town Hall, 30 Martin Street, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All three Board of Selectmen 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 Board of Public Works, which owns the repair, at 978-768-6262.
- Town Hall: 30 Martin Street, Essex, MA 01929. Board of Selectmen office 978-768-6531.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-768-7111, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at essexma.org.
- Public schools: the Manchester Essex Regional School District, 978-526-4919, mersd.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Board of Selectmen, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.