Town Edition
Hampden County
Monson, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The building Monson runs itself out of started life in 1925 as the town’s first high school, until the June 2011 tornado twisted the structure and stripped off the roof. A town office building stands in its place today, and the body that decides how Monson spends money on that scale is not a city council. It is Town Meeting, where any registered voter in this town of about 8,150 can walk in, stand up, and vote on the budget directly. In June 2026, 1,552 residents cast ballots for the officers who run the place between those meetings. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Monson at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Hampden. Monson covers about 44.8 square miles in the hills of western Massachusetts, bordered by Palmer to the north, Brimfield and Wales to the east, Stafford, Connecticut to the south, and Hampden and Wilbraham to the west.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Jennifer L. Wolowicz.
- Schools: Monson Public Schools, a single-town district of about 800 students, led by Superintendent Paul N. Foster.
How Monson’s Government Works
Monson runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Monson is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Select Board to set policy between meetings and a five-member 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 Monson 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
3 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
5 members, elected town-wide by Monson voters. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 3 members of the Select Board and the 5 members of 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 second and fourth Tuesday evenings of each month at Monson Town Hall, 110 Main Street. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held on the second Monday in May, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. Any registered voter may attend and vote.
- Town elections: Monson holds its annual town election in June. In the June 9, 2026 election 1,552 ballots were cast across three precincts. The next is in June 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Monson Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour three board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Monson HistoryQuarries, mills, and the 2011 tornado
- DemographicsWho lives in Monson
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataMonson 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 Monson. 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 Monson
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 second and fourth Tuesday evenings at Monson Town Hall, 110 Main Street, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All three 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 downed tree to the Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair, at 413-267-4135.
- Town Hall: 110 Main Street, Monson, MA 01057. Main line 413-267-4100.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-267-4115, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at monson-ma.gov.
- Public schools: Monson Public Schools, 413-267-4150, monsonschools.com.
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.