Town Edition
Middlesex County
Hudson, Massachusetts
Photo: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Flip a light switch in Hudson and the power behind it belongs to the town. The Hudson Light and Power Department has been Hudson’s since 1897, it serves more than 13,000 customers, and the three people who oversee it are not executives at a company you would have to write to and hope. They are the Municipal Light Board, elected by Hudson voters on the same ballot as the Select Board, and they meet in public at 49 Forest Avenue on the third Tuesday of every month at 7 pm. That is the pattern of this whole town. On May 11, 2026, the 1,799 residents who cast ballots filled a Select Board seat, the Moderator’s chair, two School Committee seats, a Light Board seat and eight other town offices, and approved a debt exclusion for new school roofs, 1,041 to 670. That is what a single ballot is worth in a Hudson town election. This guide shows you where the rooms are and how to get into them.
Hudson at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Middlesex. Hudson covers 11.5 square miles on the Assabet River, about 1,743 people to the square mile, with Fort Meadow Reservoir on the Marlborough line.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Thomas Gregory.
- Schools: Hudson Public Schools, about 2,275 students across five schools, led by Superintendent Brian K. Reagan.
- Its own power company: the Hudson Light and Power Department, town owned since 1897 and overseen by a three-member Municipal Light Board that voters elect.
How Hudson’s Government Works
Hudson runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Hudson 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 Hudson 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
7 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: 7 pm, every other Monday, in the Community Room of the Hudson Police Station at 911 Municipal Drive. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center, so check it before you go.
- Town Meeting: the charter has Town Meeting sit twice each calendar year, with the Annual Town Meeting in the spring, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The Moderator, Michele Tousignant Dufour, presides.
- Municipal Light Board: the third Tuesday of every month at 7 pm, in the conference room at 49 Forest Avenue, and the meetings are open to the public.
- Town elections: Hudson votes on a Monday in May, across six precincts. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on May 11. A Special Town Election for the open Select Board seat is set for September 1, 2026.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years.
Explore the Hudson Edition
- Town Manager’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.
- Hudson History1866, the shoe shops, and the fire
- DemographicsWho lives in Hudson
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataHudson 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 Middlesex County, and that includes Hudson. 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 Hudson
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 7 pm every other Monday in the Community Room of the Hudson Police Station, 911 Municipal Drive, and the agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center.
- Know your members. Every Select Board seat is elected town-wide, so every member answers to you and not to one neighborhood.
- 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: 78 Main Street, Hudson, MA 01749. Main line 978-568-9615, Select Board and Town Manager’s office 978-562-9963.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-568-9615 for records and voter registration, at the Town Clerk. Meeting agendas and minutes are posted on the town’s Agenda Center.
- Registering to vote: the town keeps the deadlines, the polling places and the early voting hours on one page, Elections & Voting. Massachusetts lets you pre-register at 16.
- Public schools: Hudson Public Schools, 978-567-6100, hudson.k12.ma.us.
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.