Town Edition
Norfolk County
Franklin, Massachusetts
Franklin asked Benjamin Franklin for a bell and got a library instead. The town had just named itself after him in 1778, the first place in the country to do it, and when it wrote asking for a bell for the church steeple he sent books, remarking that sense was preferable to sound. Franklin then voted to lend those books to everyone who lived here, which is why the town is credited with the first public library in America. Horace Mann, the man who did more than anyone to invent the American public school, was born here eighteen years later. You live in a town with a documented habit of choosing education over noise, and its nine-member Town Council still votes the school budget. This guide shows you how Franklin runs today.
The Franklin Civics Handbook
A plain-language guide to how your town works: who represents you, how decisions get made, and how to make your voice heard. Read it online.
Franklin at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov) · Town of Franklin.
- County: Norfolk. Franklin sits at the southwest corner of the county, where Interstate 495 meets the MBTA Franklin commuter rail line that runs to Boston.
- Government: a council-administrator charter. Nine councilors elected at-large hold the legislative power, and they hire an appointed Town Administrator, Jamie Hellen, to run the town day to day. There is no mayor and no town meeting.
- Schools: Franklin Public Schools, about 4,400 students across 7 schools, led by Superintendent Lucas Giguere.
How Franklin’s Government Works
Franklin adopted a charter that hands the lawmaking power to a nine-member Town Council, all elected at-large, and hands the daily running of the town to a professional Town Administrator the council hires. So the levers are split on purpose. The nine councilors you elect decide what the town will do and how much it will spend, including the school budget. The Town Administrator they hire decides how to get it done and makes sure it happens. A separately elected School Committee runs the schools. That means almost every local decision traces back to someone you can vote for, or to a public meeting you can walk into.
Town Council
The legislative body. Nine members elected at-large to two-year terms. They vote the annual budget, pass town bylaws, and hire the Town Administrator. They choose their own Chair, Vice Chair, and Clerk.
Town Administrator
The appointed chief executive. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and carries out the council’s decisions. Hired under contract by the council, not elected.
School Committee
Seven members elected at-large. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires and evaluates the Superintendent.
You
Every one of these bodies meets in public with time for residents to speak. You can address the council, run for a seat at 18, or testify on the budget that funds your school.
- Residents elect the nine Town Council members and the seven School Committee members.
- The Town Council votes the budget and the bylaws, and hires the Town Administrator.
- The Town Administrator runs the departments and carries out what the council decides.
- You take part: speak at a council meeting, run for office at 18, or testify on the school budget.
Civic Calendar
- Town Council: meets the first and third Wednesday of the month at 6:00 pm in the Council Chambers of the Franklin Municipal Building, 355 East Central Street. Meetings are open to the public.
- School Committee: meets in public and posts its agendas at franklinps.net.
- Town elections: Franklin holds its town election in odd-numbered years. The most recent was November 4, 2025. The next is in November 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Franklin Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief executive
- Town CouncilYour nine councilors
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at the Municipal Building
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Franklin HistoryThe books came first
- DemographicsWho lives in Franklin
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataFranklin Public Schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected, and neither one sits on Beacon Hill. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. The sheriff is elected by the voters of Norfolk County. The district attorney is elected by the voters of a prosecution district, and Massachusetts draws eleven of those across its fourteen counties, so a district attorney’s territory does not always follow a county line. Both appear on your ballot in Franklin. Now you know what to look for.
Massachusetts elects fourteen sheriffs, one for each county, and eleven district attorneys, one for each prosecution district. 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 Franklin
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in Franklin. Here is how to take one real action, start to finish.
- Pick the right body. A pothole or a park is the Town Administrator’s departments. A bylaw, a budget, or a tax rate is the Town Council. Anything about your school is the School Committee.
- Find the meeting. The Town Council meets the first and third Wednesday of the month at 6:00 pm in the Council Chambers, 355 East Central Street. Agendas are posted at franklinma.gov.
- Know your councilors. All nine are elected at-large, so every one of them answers to you. The chair is Robert Dellorco.
- Speak. Council meetings have a public comment period. You can stand up, give your name, and say your piece on the record, and you do not need to be a registered voter to do it.
- Or skip the trip. For a pothole, a streetlight, or a missed pickup, use the Franklin DPW online service request at franklinma.gov instead of waiting for a meeting.
- Municipal Building: 355 East Central Street, Franklin, MA 02038. Main line 508-520-4900.
- Town Clerk & agendas: the Town Clerk and Elections Division handles voter records and posts council agendas. 508-520-4900.
- Public schools: Franklin Public Schools, franklinps.net.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Town Council, speak at a Wednesday meeting, or run for a seat in your own town.