Town Edition
Berkshire County
Lenox, Massachusetts
Photo: Daderot., CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In May 2025, Lenox voters sat down at Town Meeting and spent $1.9 million on a new ladder truck for the fire department, replacing one that had been answering calls for thirty years, then worked through the rest of the warrant almost unanimously. The operating budget, a new water main on Holmeswood Terrace, even the rules for where a food truck may park, all of it gets settled by residents in a room, raising their hands. That is the shape of power here. Lenox runs on an open Town Meeting, where the budget is voted by whoever is in the hall, and any registered voter is allowed in that hall. Attendance is often small enough that the residents who show up decide the year for everyone, which is exactly what makes one more person in the room worth so much. This guide shows you where the rooms are and how to get into them.
Lenox at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov) · Town of Lenox.
- County: Berkshire. Lenox covers about 21 square miles in the heart of the Berkshires, and residents still name its parts: the village of Lenox, Lenox Dale and New Lenox.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Jay R. Green.
- Schools: Lenox Public Schools, about 750 students across two schools, led by Superintendent William Collins.
How Lenox’s Government Works
Lenox runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Lenox 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 Lenox 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: pre-register at 16. A pre-registrant is on the list but is not allowed to vote yet. Once you turn 18 that designation comes off on its own and you are a registered voter in Lenox, which makes you a member of Town Meeting with a vote on the floor. If you never pre-registered, register with the Town Clerk, and do it well ahead: the rolls close at 5 p.m. on the tenth day before any election or Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets at 6:00 pm every other Wednesday on the second floor of Lenox Town Hall, 6 Walker Street. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s website, so check it before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in May, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The Town Moderator presides.
- Town elections: Lenox holds its Annual Town Election in May. The 2026 election was held on Monday May 11. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Lenox 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.
- Lenox History1767, the county seat, and the cottages
- DemographicsWho lives in Lenox
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataLenox schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected, and neither one sits on Beacon Hill. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. The sheriff is elected by the voters of Berkshire County. The district attorney is elected by the voters of a prosecution district, and Massachusetts draws eleven of those across its fourteen counties, so a district attorney’s territory does not always follow a county line. Both appear on your ballot in Lenox. Now you know what to look for.
Massachusetts elects fourteen sheriffs, one for each county, and eleven district attorneys, one for each prosecution district. 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 Lenox
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 6:00 pm every other Wednesday at Lenox Town Hall, 6 Walker Street, and the agenda is posted in advance on the town’s website.
- 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: 6 Walker Street, Lenox, MA 01240. Main line (413) 637-5500, Town Manager’s office (413) 637-5500 ext. 1200.
- Town Clerk & agendas: (413) 637-5500 ext. 1207, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at townoflenox.com.
- Public schools: Lenox Public Schools, led by Superintendent William Collins, at lenoxps.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.