Town Edition
Barnstable County
Harwich, Massachusetts
Photo: T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On May 19, 2026, one thousand and eight Harwich voters settled four borrowing questions in a single afternoon. They said yes to a new roof on the Monomoy Regional Middle School, yes to a Fire Department ambulance, yes to a Harbormaster boat, and no, 520 to 441, to a new Department of Public Works workshop. One registered voter in twelve made all four of those calls on behalf of a town of 13,440 people, which tells you exactly what one ballot is worth here. Sixteen years earlier the same habit produced something larger: in 2010 Harwich voted to give up its own school district and merge it with Chatham’s, and four years after that the vote turned into Monomoy Regional High School on Oak Street. This guide shows you how to get into the room where those calls are made.
Harwich at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Barnstable. Harwich covers 20.9 square miles on the south shore of the Cape’s forearm, bounded by Brewster to the north, Orleans and Chatham to the east, Dennis to the west and Nantucket Sound to the south. It is made up of seven villages: Harwich Center, North Harwich, East Harwich, South Harwich, West Harwich, Harwich Port and Pleasant Lake.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Jay McGrail
- Schools: Harwich shares the Monomoy Regional School District with Chatham, about 1,644 students, led by Superintendent Robin Millen.
How Harwich’s Government Works
Harwich runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Harwich 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 they share an 8 member regional School Committee with Chatham to oversee 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 Harwich 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 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
8 members, four elected by Harwich and four by Chatham, because the schools are regional. It sets district policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and Harwich’s four seats on the regional 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 at 6 pm every Monday in the Donn B. Griffin Room at Town Hall, 732 Main Street, with the agenda posted in advance.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The 2026 Annual Town Meeting opened on May 4 and adjourned to a second night on May 5. It takes 150 voters to reach a quorum, and 281 were in the hall when it opened.
- Who runs the room: the Town Moderator, Michael D. Ford, who has held the job for fifty years. The Moderator recognises speakers, rules on the votes, and appoints the Finance Committee that recommends on every article.
- Town elections: Harwich votes in the spring, across four precincts. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on May 19.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Harwich 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.
- Harwich HistorySeven villages, cranberries, and 1694
- DemographicsWho lives in Harwich
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataMonomoy Regional School District 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 Barnstable County, and that includes Harwich. 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 Harwich
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 at 6 pm every Monday in the Donn B. Griffin Room at Town Hall, 732 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 broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 732 Main Street, Harwich, MA 02645. Select Board office 508-430-7513.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-430-7516, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at harwich-ma.gov.
- Public schools: the Monomoy Regional School District, 508-945-5130, monomoy.edu.
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.