Town Edition
Plymouth County
Hanover, Massachusetts
Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On Monday, December 8, 2025, Hanover Town Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM in the high school on Cedar Street, wrote a brand new section into the town’s own zoning bylaw, and was dissolved at 7:26. Article 1 laid a Multi-Family Overlay District of about 71 acres over a single parcel at 1775 Washington Street, at 15 units to the acre, and it carried by majority with three weeks left before a state deadline. The town had brought that question to Town Meeting twice before and pulled it back both times while the courts worked through the challenges. In twenty six minutes, Hanover wrote the rule itself. That is what an open Town Meeting is: a room where every registered voter in town is a member, no seat to win and no appointment to wait for. This guide shows you where the rooms are and how to get into them.
Hanover at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Plymouth. Hanover covers 15.526 square miles between Norwell and Pembroke, and residents still name its parts: North Hanover, Four Corners, West Hanover, Hanover Center, South Hanover and Assinippi.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Joseph Colangelo
- Schools: Hanover Public Schools, about 2,415 students across four schools, led by Superintendent Matthew A. Ferron.
How Hanover’s Government Works
Hanover runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Hanover 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 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 Hanover 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 by the voters of the district the schools serve. 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 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 at Hanover Town Hall, 550 Hanover Street. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s own meetings page, so check it before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring at Hanover High School, 287 Cedar Street, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. Registration opens at 6:00 PM and the Moderator, Douglas T. Thomson, starts the meeting at 7:00 PM.
- Town elections: Hanover votes in May, across four precincts. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on Saturday May 16. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Hanover Edition
- Town Manager’s OfficeThe town’s chief executive officer
- 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.
- Hanover History1727, the North River, and six villages
- DemographicsWho lives in Hanover
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataHanover 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 Plymouth County, and that includes Hanover. 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 Hanover
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 Hanover Town Hall, 550 Hanover Street, and the agenda is posted in advance on the town’s own meetings page.
- 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 water problem to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 550 Hanover Street, Hanover, MA 02339. Main line 781-826-5000, Town Manager’s office 781-826-5000, ext. 1084.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 781-826-5000, ext. 1079, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at hanover-ma.gov.
- Public schools: Hanover Public Schools, 781-878-0786, hanoverschools.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.