Town Edition
Franklin County
Gill, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On May 4, 2026, ninety nine Gill voters sat down at Town Meeting and voted 94 to 5 to put a new roof on Gill Elementary School. Two weeks later the town went to the ballot box and voted 187 to 42 to raise its own property taxes for the part the state would not cover, about 204 dollars a year on the average home. That is the whole shape of how Gill governs itself: the money is decided in a room any registered voter may walk into, and then confirmed at the ballot box down the road. Gill is a town of about 1,551 people in a bend of the Connecticut River, and it still runs on one of the oldest forms of self government in the country. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Gill at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Franklin. Gill lies in a wide bend of the Connecticut River where the Millers River joins it, with Montague to the south and Erving and Northfield across the water to the east.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Selectboard and an appointed Town Administrator, Ray Purington.
- Schools: Gill shares the Gill-Montague Regional School District with Montague, about 839 students across five schools, led by Interim Superintendent Tari Nugent Thomas.
How Gill’s Government Works
Gill runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Gill is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Selectboard to set policy between meetings, a Town Moderator to run the meeting, and Gill’s seats on the regional School Committee. The Selectboard 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 Selectboard, 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 Gill is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Selectboard
Three 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 Selectboard. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
Nine members shared between Gill and Montague, elected by the voters of the two towns. It sets school policy, approves the district budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the three members of the Selectboard, the Moderator, and Gill’s seats on the School Committee.
- The Selectboard 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
- Selectboard: meets every other Monday evening on the second floor of Gill Town Hall, 325 Main Road. 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 the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. It was the spring 2026 Town Meeting that voted 94 to 5 to reroof Gill Elementary School.
- Town elections: Gill votes in the spring, and Selectboard members serve three-year terms. The next annual town election is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Gill Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- SelectboardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Gill HistoryMoses Gill, the river, and 1793
- DemographicsWho lives in Gill
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataGill-Montague 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 Franklin County, and that includes Gill. 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 Gill
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 Selectboard. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Selectboard meets every other Monday evening at Gill Town Hall, 325 Main Road, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. Three Selectboard 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 downed tree, or a plowing problem to the Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 325 Main Road, Gill, MA 01354. Town Administrator’s office 413-863-9347.
- Town Clerk & agendas: Town Clerk Doreen J. Stevens, 413-863-8103, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at gillmass.org.
- Public schools: the Gill-Montague Regional School District, 413-863-9324, gmrsd.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Selectboard, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.