Town Edition
Hampden County
Southwick, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
The water in Congamond Lake is kept swimmable by a chemical dose that somebody has to pay for. Southwick’s own voters, sitting in the Southwick Regional School auditorium at Town Meeting, agreed to borrow $600,000 to treat the algae with aluminum sulfate, and in May 2026 they voted again, this time to put $63,900 of Community Preservation money toward paying that bond down. In this town the lake you swim in is a line item you are allowed to stand up and argue about, and any registered voter in the room may do exactly that. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Southwick at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Hampden. Southwick sits in the southwest corner of the county, right on the Connecticut line, and holds the Congamond Lakes along its eastern edge. Its most famous feature is the Jog, a square notch of Massachusetts that drops into Connecticut, a border oddity left over from a survey dispute settled after the Revolution.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Chief Administrative Officer, Nicole Parker.
- Schools: the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District, about 1,250 students, led by Superintendent Jennifer C. Willard.
How Southwick’s Government Works
Southwick runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Southwick 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 School Committee that oversees the regional schools. The Select Board hires a professional Chief Administrative Officer 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 Chief Administrative Officer.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Southwick is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending, and it is run by an elected Town Moderator, Celeste A. St. Jacques. 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 Chief Administrative Officer.
Chief Administrative Officer
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
Seven members, elected by the voters of Southwick, Tolland and Granville, the three towns the regional district serves. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
What that looks like in practice: at the Annual Town Meeting on May 19, 2026, about 144 voters approved a town budget of $18,914,079 for the coming year, appropriated $63,900 in Community Preservation money toward the Congamond Lake alum-treatment bond, and voted to borrow for a $1,100,000 replacement fire engine. Every one of those decisions was made by residents who walked in and raised a hand.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and the town’s seats on the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Chief Administrative Officer 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 Monday evenings in the Land Use Hearing Room at Southwick Town Hall, 454 College Highway. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar for the date and start time before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held each spring at the Southwick Regional School, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The 2026 Annual Town Meeting met on May 19 with about 144 voters in the room.
- Town elections: Southwick votes in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on May 12, with the polls open from 7:00am to 8:00pm across the town’s three precincts. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 state primary is September 1 and the state election is November 3.
Explore the Southwick Edition
- Chief Administrative Officer’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.
- Southwick HistoryThe Jog, Congamond ice, and 1770
- DemographicsWho lives in Southwick
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataSouthwick-Tolland-Granville 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 Hampden County, and that includes Southwick. 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 Southwick
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 Monday evenings in the Land Use Hearing Room at Southwick Town Hall, 454 College Highway, 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 broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 454 College Highway, Southwick, MA 01077. Town Hall main line 413-569-3137.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-569-5504, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at southwickma.gov.
- Public schools: the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District, 413-569-5391, stgrsd.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.