Town Edition
Berkshire County
Monterey, Massachusetts
Photo: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On a Saturday morning in May 2026, a motion on the floor of Monterey’s Town Meeting ended in a 54 to 54 tie, a deadlock the moderator said he had not seen once in 21 years of running the room. By the time that meeting broke up, nearly five hours in, the residents in those folding chairs had voted themselves a $4.5 million budget, hired three full-time firefighters trained as EMTs, and adopted the Community Preservation Act. No mayor signed off on any of it. They did. That is how a town of about 1,095 people governs itself: every registered voter is a member of the open Town Meeting that sets the budget, and the people who fill the room decide the year for everyone. This guide shows you how to get into that room.
Monterey at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Berkshire. Monterey sits in the hills of the south county, wrapped around Lake Garfield, bordered by Tyringham, Great Barrington, New Marlborough, Sandisfield, and Otis, with Beartown State Forest to its north and the Appalachian Trail crossing the high ground to the west.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Roger MacDonald.
- Schools: the Southern Berkshire School District, about 593 students, led by Superintendent Brian Ricca.
How Monterey’s Government Works
Monterey runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Monterey 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 share of the regional 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 Monterey 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
Three 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
Ten members, elected by the voters of the five towns the regional district serves. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and Monterey’s seats on 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 weekly on Tuesday evenings at Monterey Town Hall, 435 Main Road, Monterey, MA 01245. Each agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held on a Saturday in the spring at the Monterey Fire Company firehouse, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. Every registered voter may speak from the floor and vote.
- Town elections: Monterey holds its annual town election in May. At the May 2026 election 313 residents cast ballots, and one Select Board seat was decided on write-in votes alone. The next annual election is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Monterey 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.
- Monterey HistorySouth Tyringham, Lake Garfield, and 1847
- DemographicsWho lives in Monterey
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataSouthern Berkshire 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 Berkshire County, and that includes Monterey. 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 Monterey
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 Mondays at 7:00 pm at Monterey Town Hall, 435 Main Road, Monterey, MA 01245, 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 washed-out shoulder, or a downed limb to the Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 435 Main Road, Monterey, MA 01245. Select Board office 413-528-1443.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-528-1443, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at montereyma.gov.
- Public schools: the Southern Berkshire School District, 413-229-8778, sbrsd.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.