Town Edition
Hampshire County
South Hadley, Massachusetts
In 1913 the voters at South Hadley Town Meeting did something most Massachusetts towns never got the chance to do. They voted, twice, on May 12 and again on June 13, to buy the electric company out of private hands. More than a century later the lights in your house still run on a utility this town owns outright, and the board that runs it sits on the April ballot. That is the pattern to watch for here. South Hadley is a town of 18,150 people that does not gather in one room to decide things: it elects 120 neighbors from five precincts, and those 120 hold the final vote on the budget and the bylaws. This guide shows you who they are and how to reach them.
South Hadley at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Hampshire. South Hadley runs along the eastern bank of the Connecticut River, from the Falls at the old canal up to the southern slope of the Mount Holyoke Range, across 17.7 square miles of land.
- Government: representative Town Meeting with an elected five-member Selectboard and an appointed Town Administrator, Lisa Wong.
- Schools: South Hadley Public Schools, about 1,563 students in four schools, led by Superintendent Jennifer Voyik.
How South Hadley’s Government Works
South Hadley runs on a representative Town Meeting, which is an old New England form scaled up for a town too big to fit everyone in one room. Voters in each precinct elect their neighbors to serve as Town Meeting members, and those members hold the final vote on the budget and on the town’s bylaws. Voters also elect a 5 member Selectboard to set policy and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Selectboard hires a professional Town Administrator to run the town day to day. The levers are split on purpose: residents elect the people, Town Meeting votes the money, the Selectboard sets direction, and the Town Administrator carries it out.
Town Meeting
The legislative body. One hundred and twenty members, twenty four from each of five precincts, adopt the annual budget, pass town bylaws, and approve major spending. Sixty one of them make a quorum, and eight seats in every precinct are on the ballot each April.
Selectboard
Five members elected town-wide to staggered three-year terms. They set policy, draw the warrant for every Town Meeting, appoint most other boards, and hire and supervise the Town Administrator.
Town Administrator
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Selectboard. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
Five members elected town-wide. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires and evaluates the Superintendent.
- Residents elect Town Meeting members from their own precinct, the 5 members of the Selectboard, and the School Committee.
- The Selectboard hires the Town Administrator and sets town policy.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws up or down.
- You take part: run for Town Meeting from your precinct at 18, speak at a Selectboard meeting, or sit in on Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Selectboard: the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m., hybrid on Zoom and at the South Hadley Senior Center. Agendas go up the Friday before.
- Annual Town Meeting: the second Wednesday in May. That date is fixed in the town’s bylaws, so it does not move unless Town Meeting moves it, and the meeting continues on later evenings until the warrant is finished.
- Special Town Meetings: called by the Selectboard, and required within 45 days when 200 registered voters, or 20 percent of the town’s voters if that is a smaller number, sign a written petition asking for one.
- Town elections: every April. On April 14, 2026, 6,341 residents voted, close to half of the 13,647 on the rolls, and 2,003 of them had already voted before election day.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years, with the state primary and the general election in the fall.
Explore the South Hadley Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- SelectboardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- South Hadley HistoryThe canal, the seminary, the light plant
- DemographicsWho lives in South Hadley
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataSouth Hadley Public 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 Hampshire County, and that includes South Hadley. 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 South Hadley
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, licensing and public safety go to the Selectboard. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and the bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Selectboard meets the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m., on Zoom and at the Senior Center, and the agenda is posted the Friday before.
- Know your members. All five Selectboard members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you, and the 24 Town Meeting members from your own precinct answer to your street in particular.
- Speak. Meetings are open and carried on Zoom, and residents may address the board. Check the agenda for the procedure.
- Or put it on the warrant. Ten registered voters can file an article for the annual Town Meeting, as long as it reaches the Selectboard 60 days before the meeting.
- Town Hall: 116 Main Street, South Hadley, MA 01075. Selectboard office 413-538-5030 ext. 6181.
- Town Clerk & agendas: Sarah B. Gmeiner, 413-538-5030 ext. 6115, with agendas and minutes posted on the town’s Agenda Center.
- Public schools: South Hadley Public Schools, 116 Main Street, 2nd Floor, 413-538-5060.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Selectboard, speak at a meeting, or run for one of the 24 Town Meeting seats in your precinct.
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.