Town Edition
Hampden County
Ludlow, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In 2013 Ludlow’s Town Meeting voted to rewrite the zoning on the largest thing in town: the Ludlow Mills, more than fifty brick buildings along the Chicopee River where over 5,000 people once spun jute yarn and twine. That vote made it legal to live there, and it is why Mill 10 now holds senior apartments instead of looms, a rehabilitation hospital opened on the site in 2014, and a paved riverwalk runs a mile and a half along the river with about 50 acres of greenspace protected for good. The room that cast that vote still meets every May, its members are elected from your precinct, and this guide shows you how the whole machine works and where your hands go on it.
Ludlow at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Hampden. Ludlow sits just northeast of Springfield across the Chicopee River, mill buildings along the water and neighborhoods rising away from it.
- Government: representative Town Meeting with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Marc Strange.
- Schools: Ludlow Public Schools, about 2,158 students, led by Superintendent Sharon Cournoyer.
How Ludlow’s Government Works
Ludlow runs on a representative Town Meeting, an old New England form scaled up for a big town. Voters in each of six precincts elect Town Meeting members, and those neighbors hold the final vote on the budget and the bylaws. Voters also elect a five-member Select Board to set policy and a School Committee to oversee the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Administrator to run the town day to day. So the levers are split on purpose: residents elect the people, Town Meeting votes the money, the Select Board sets direction, and the Town Administrator carries it out.
Town Meeting
The legislative body. Members elected from the six precincts adopt the annual budget, pass town bylaws, and approve major spending. It is the closest thing to direct democracy at scale.
Select Board
Five members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign warrants, appoint many 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
Five members, elected town-wide. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect Town Meeting members, the five Select Board members, and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Administrator and sets town policy.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws up or down.
- You take part: run for Town Meeting at 18, speak at a Select Board meeting, or sit in the hall at Town Meeting and watch every vote.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets the first and third Tuesday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 488 Chapin Street. Agendas are posted in advance on the town website.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting convenes each May. In 2026 it met Monday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ludlow High School Auditorium, and Special Town Meetings are typically warned for the fall.
- Town elections: Ludlow votes in late March. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held March 23, and the Select Board reorganized at its April 7 meeting. The next town election is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Ludlow 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.
- Ludlow HistoryJute, the mills, and the Festa
- DemographicsWho lives in Ludlow
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataLudlow Public 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 Hampden County, and that includes Ludlow. 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 Ludlow
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 the first and third Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 488 Chapin 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 open with a public comment period and are recorded by Ludlow Community Television. Sign in when you arrive and you will be called on.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a plowing problem, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works at 198 Sportsmen’s Road, the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 488 Chapin Street, Ludlow, MA 01056. Select Board office (413) 583-5600 ext. 1201, selectboard@ludlow.ma.us.
- Town Clerk & agendas: (413) 583-5600 ext. 1231, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at ludlow.ma.us.
- Public schools: Ludlow Public Schools, (413) 583-8372, ludlowps.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting, or run for Town Meeting in your precinct.