Town Edition
Essex County
Groveland, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In 1996 the people of Groveland stood up at Town Meeting and voted to put $160,000 of their own money toward buying the old Veasey estate, about a sixth of the $954,000 price, with state grants and a family gift covering the rest. That vote is the only reason you can walk the trails at Veasey Memorial Park today instead of driving past somebody’s private gate. Groveland still runs on an open Town Meeting, where any registered voter can walk in, speak, and vote the budget for a town of about 6,750 people. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Groveland at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Essex County. Groveland sits along the south bank of the Merrimack River, about 30 miles north of Boston, on roughly nine square miles of land.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Rebecca Oldham.
- Schools: the Pentucket Regional School District, shared with Merrimac and West Newbury, about 2,285 students, led by Superintendent Dr. Justin Bartholomew.
How Groveland’s Government Works
Groveland runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Groveland 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 Administrator 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 Administrator.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Groveland is a member, and 100 voters have to be in the room before any business can start. 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 Administrator.
Town Administrator
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
A 9-member regional committee for the Pentucket district, three seats each for Groveland, Merrimac and West Newbury, elected by the voters of all three towns. 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 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
- Select Board: meets bi-weekly on Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Meeting Room, 183 Main Street. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: by bylaw the Annual Town Meeting is held on the last Monday in April, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. Any registered voter is a voting member.
- Town elections: Groveland holds its annual town election in the spring, with the polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and both precincts voting at Town Hall.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years, with the state primary and general in the fall.
Explore the Groveland Edition
- Town Administrator’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.
- Groveland HistoryBradford’s East Parish, a Revere bell, and 1850
- DemographicsWho lives in Groveland
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataPentucket 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 Groveland. 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 Groveland
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 bi-weekly on Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Meeting Room, 183 Main Street, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- 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 downed sign, or a drainage problem to the Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 183 Main Street, Groveland, MA 01834, main line 978-556-7200.
- Town Clerk & agendas: Town Clerk Jennifer Petersen, 978-556-7221, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at grovelandma.com.
- Public schools: the Pentucket Regional School District, 978-363-2280, prsd.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.