Town Edition
Essex County
Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On a November night in 2024, so many of your neighbors packed the Manchester Essex Regional High School gym that hundreds had to sit in the auditorium, and then the room voted 636 to 214 to rezone the town for new housing. No mayor made that call, and no city council did either. In Manchester-by-the-Sea the people in that gym are the government. The same kind of crowd has voted to permanently protect about 36 acres of woods off Colburn Road and to borrow $1.9 million to dredge the harbor. This town has settled its business in open Town Meeting since it was incorporated in 1645, and this guide shows you how to get into the room.
Manchester-by-the-Sea at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Essex. Manchester-by-the-Sea is a small coastal town on Boston’s North Shore, set on Massachusetts Bay between Beverly and Gloucester, and it is known for Singing Beach, whose sand squeaks underfoot.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Antonio Barletta.
- Schools: the Manchester Essex Regional School District, shared with the neighboring town of Essex, about 1,156 students, led by Superintendent Pamela Beaudoin.
How Manchester-by-the-Sea’s Government Works
Manchester-by-the-Sea runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Manchester-by-the-Sea 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 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 Manchester-by-the-Sea 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
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 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 on the first and third Monday evening of each month at Manchester-by-the-Sea Town Hall, 10 Central Street. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting convenes on the fourth Monday in April, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. Any registered voter may speak and vote, and there is no absentee or proxy voting, so you have to be in the room.
- Town elections: Manchester-by-the-Sea votes in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on May 19. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Manchester-by-the-Sea 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.
- Manchester-by-the-Sea HistoryFishing port, summer town, and the 1989 name
- DemographicsWho lives in Manchester-by-the-Sea
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataManchester Essex Regional 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 Essex County, and that includes Manchester-by-the-Sea. 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 Manchester-by-the-Sea
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 on the first and third Monday evening of each month at Manchester-by-the-Sea Town Hall, 10 Central 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: 10 Central Street, Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA 01944. Main line 978-526-2000.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-526-2040, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at manchester.ma.us.
- Public schools: the Manchester Essex Regional School District, 978-526-4919, mersd.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.