Town Edition
Berkshire County
New Marlborough, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
A cable company was never going to run fiber out to five scattered Berkshire villages on its own, so New Marlborough stopped waiting for one. At Town Meeting the voters took the votes needed to create a municipal light plant, the town put its own money into the build, and today roughly nine in ten addresses here can buy fiber internet, while Town Hall and the library carry free Wi-Fi on a network that wears the town’s own name, NM-Net. That is what an open Town Meeting can do: every registered voter in a town of about 1,528 people is a member, and the room decides. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
New Marlborough at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Berkshire. New Marlborough is a rural hilltown in the far southwest corner of the state, made up of five villages: Clayton, Hartsville, Mill River, New Marlborough Village, and Southfield.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Mari Enoch.
- Schools: the Southern Berkshire Regional School District, about 593 students, led by Superintendent Brian Ricca, Ed.D.
How New Marlborough’s Government Works
New Marlborough runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in New Marlborough 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 the town’s seats on 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 New Marlborough 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
A ten-member regional committee, elected by the voters of the five towns the district serves. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and New Marlborough’s seats on the regional 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 twice a month on Monday evenings at Town Hall, 807 Mill River Southfield Road, Mill River. Start times can vary and the agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- Town elections: New Marlborough votes in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on 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 New Marlborough 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.
- New Marlborough HistoryFive villages, mills, and 1759
- DemographicsWho lives in New Marlborough
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataSouthern Berkshire 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 Berkshire County, and that includes New Marlborough. 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 New Marlborough
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 twice a month on Monday evenings at Town Hall, 807 Mill River Southfield Road, Mill River, 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 fallen limb, or a plowing problem to the Highway Department, which owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 807 Mill River Southfield Road, Mill River, MA 01244. Select Board office 413-229-8116.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-229-8278, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at newmarlboroughma.gov.
- Public schools: the Southern Berkshire Regional 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.