City Edition
Norfolk County
Quincy, Massachusetts
Two presidents were born within a mile of each other in this city, and you can still walk to both birthplaces. Quincy is the City of Presidents, home to John Adams and John Quincy Adams, the place that quarried the granite for the Bunker Hill Monument and ran the first commercial railroad in the country. This guide shows you how Quincy works today: the people who run the city, the boards that shape your block, the legislators who carry your voice to Boston and Washington, and the data behind it all.
The Quincy Civics Handbook
A plain-language guide to how your city works: who represents you, how decisions get made, and how to make your voice heard. Read it online.
Quincy at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov) · City of Quincy.
- County: Norfolk. Quincy sits on the shore of Quincy Bay, just south of Boston, and is the largest city on the South Shore.
- Government: Plan A strong-mayor charter. Mayor Thomas P. Koch has led the city since 2008.
- Schools: Quincy Public Schools, about 9,600 students across 19 schools, led by Superintendent Kevin W. Mulvey.
How Quincy’s Government Works
Quincy runs on a strong-mayor charter, known as Plan A. Voters elect a Mayor to run the city and a nine-member City Council to make its laws, and they elect a School Committee to oversee the schools. The Mayor holds real executive power: appointing department heads, proposing the budget, and signing or vetoing what the Council passes.
The Mayor
The elected chief executive. Runs every department, appoints department heads and most board members, proposes the budget, and can veto Council ordinances.
City Council
The nine-member legislative body. Six councillors are elected by ward and three at large. The Council passes ordinances, sets the tax rate, and adopts the budget.
School Committee
Six members elected by voters, chaired by the Mayor. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the Mayor, the nine councillors, and the School Committee.
- The Mayor runs the city day to day and proposes the budget.
- The Council votes the budget and the ordinances up or down, and can override a veto.
- You take part: public comment, board service, and a call to your ward councillor all shape what happens next.
Explore the Quincy Edition
- Mayor’s OfficeThe city’s chief executive
- City CouncilYour nine councillors
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- City DepartmentsWho does what at City Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Quincy HistoryFrom Merrymount to the City of Presidents
- DemographicsWho lives in Quincy
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataQuincy Public Schools by the numbers
Civic Calendar
- City Council: meets the first and third Mondays at 7:30 PM in the Great Hall, Historic City Hall, 1305 Hancock Street.
- School Committee: meets at the Coddington Building, and its sessions are aired on QATV.
- Municipal elections: odd-numbered years. The Council and School Committee were last chosen in November 2025. The Mayor next runs in 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected, and neither one sits on Beacon Hill. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. The sheriff is elected by the voters of Norfolk County. The district attorney is elected by the voters of a prosecution district, and Massachusetts draws eleven of those across its fourteen counties, so a district attorney’s territory does not always follow a county line. Both appear on your ballot in Quincy. Now you know what to look for.
Massachusetts elects fourteen sheriffs, one for each county, and eleven district attorneys, one for each prosecution district. 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.
Career Pathways
Your First Civic Action in Quincy
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard. Here is a concrete path from “I care about this” to “I said it on the record to the people who decide,” using rooms and phone numbers that are already open to you.
- Pick the right body. A park, a road, a pothole, taxes, or a line in the city budget is City Council territory. Your school, a class, a program, or the school calendar belongs to the School Committee.
- Find the meeting. The City Council meets the first and third Mondays at 7:30 PM in the Great Hall on the second floor of Historic City Hall, 1305 Hancock Street. The School Committee meets at the Coddington Building. Agendas and minutes post in advance at quincyma.gov.
- Know your councillors. Quincy has six ward councillors, one tied to your own neighborhood, plus three at-large councillors who answer to the whole city. City Clerk Nicole L. Crispo staffs the Council and its agenda, and her office is your way in at 617-376-1132.
- Speak. Both the Council and the School Committee open their meetings to public comment. You check the agenda for the sign-up procedure, you get your minutes, and you say your piece on the record.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken streetlight, or a trash problem any time through the city’s online service request system, run by the Constituent Services Office at 617-376-1500, or call City Hall at 617-376-1000.
- City Hall (main line): 617-376-1000
- City Clerk and Council agendas: 617-376-1132
- Quincy Public Schools: 617-984-8700, quincypublicschools.com
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your ward councillor, speak at a Monday meeting, or apply to serve on a board.
Sources
This guide draws on public sources, refreshed July 2026: U.S. Census Bureau, Massachusetts DESE School and District Profiles, Massachusetts Legislature (malegislature.gov), and the official Quincy government website.