Town Edition
Plymouth County
Hull, Massachusetts
Photo: Eric Moreno, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Hull owns its own electric company, and in 2001 that town owned utility raised the first commercial scale wind turbine to go online anywhere on the East Coast, a 660 kilowatt machine spinning at Windmill Point within sight of the high school. Both of Hull’s turbines have since come down, and on May 4, 2026 Town Meeting voted 236 to 82 to ask the Legislature to amend the town’s charter and hand full authority over the light plant back to the light board that residents elect. Then look at the most recent election. On May 18, 2026, the 2,146 residents who cast ballots filled two Select Board seats, two School Committee seats, two Municipal Light Board seats and more, and two of those contests were decided by eight votes each. A town of 10,072 people, run by margins you could fit in a classroom. This guide shows you where the rooms are and how to get into them.
Hull at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Plymouth. Hull is a beach peninsula at the mouth of Boston Harbor, home to Nantasket Beach, and its 2.875 square miles of land make it the smallest town by land area in Plymouth County.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Jennifer Constable
- Schools: Hull Public Schools, about 690 students across two schools, led by Superintendent Michael Jette.
How Hull’s Government Works
Hull runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Hull 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 Hull 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 every other Wednesday at 6:30 pm in the Louis C. Costa Meeting Room at Hull Town Hall, 253 Atlantic Avenue, unless otherwise posted. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center, so check it before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held each spring at Hull High School, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The Moderator, George Boylen, presides.
- Town elections: Hull votes in the spring, across three precincts. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on Monday May 18. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Hull 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.
- Hull History1644, the beach, and the light plant
- DemographicsWho lives in Hull
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataHull 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 Hull. 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 Hull
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 every other Wednesday at Hull Town Hall, 253 Atlantic Avenue, and the agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center.
- 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: 253 Atlantic Avenue, Hull, MA 02045. Main line 781-925-2000, which is also the Select Board and Town Manager’s office.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 781-925-2262, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at town.hull.ma.us.
- Public schools: Hull Public Schools, 781-925-4400, hullpublicschools.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.