Town Edition
Essex County
Rockport, Massachusetts
Photo: Victorgrigas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Rockport owns its most famous building. In 1945 the town bought Motif No. 1, the red fish shack on Bradley Wharf, as a memorial to the residents who had served in the armed forces, and in 2002 Rockporters at open Town Meeting voted to add a 3 percent surcharge to their own property tax bills under the Community Preservation Act, so that not a dollar of it reaches open space, historic preservation, or housing without another vote from the floor. That is how this town settles almost everything: not by handing the decision to someone else, but by voting on it in a room any registered resident can walk into. This guide shows you how to get into that room.
Rockport at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov) · Town of Rockport.
- County: Essex. Rockport sits at the tip of Cape Ann on the North Shore, about seven square miles of granite headland reaching into the Atlantic, and it was set off from Gloucester in 1840 to run its own affairs.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Mitchell R. Vieira.
- Schools: Rockport Public Schools, a single-town district of about 622 students, led by Superintendent Dr. Mark Branco.
How Rockport’s Government Works
Rockport runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Rockport is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a five-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 Rockport is a member, and the floor is run by an elected Town Moderator, Brian Sullivan. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
Five 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
Five members, elected town-wide by Rockport voters. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the five members of the Select Board and the five 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: pre-register at 16. A pre-registrant is on the list but is not allowed to vote yet. Once you turn 18 that designation comes off on its own and you are a registered voter in Rockport, which makes you a member of Town Meeting with a vote on the floor. If you never pre-registered, register with the Town Clerk, and do it well ahead: the rolls close at 5 p.m. on the tenth day before any election or Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets at 6 p.m. on alternating Tuesday evenings at Rockport Town Hall, 34 Broadway. 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: Rockport holds its Annual Town Election in the spring; the 2026 election was held in May, and Select Board seats come up on a staggered three-year cycle.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Rockport 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.
- Rockport HistoryGranite, the dry town, and Motif No. 1
- DemographicsWho lives in Rockport
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataRockport schools by the numbers
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 Essex 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 Rockport. 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.
Your First Civic Action in Rockport
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 at 6 p.m. on alternating Tuesdays at Rockport Town Hall, 34 Broadway, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All 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: 34 Broadway, Rockport, MA 01966. Town Clerk 978-546-6894.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-546-6894, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at rockportma.gov.
- Public schools: Rockport Public Schools, 978-546-1200, rpk12.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.