Town Edition
Bristol County
Swansea, Massachusetts
Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On October 19, 2026, Swansea holds a Special Town Meeting, and the largest question on the warrant is a new Joseph Case Junior High School. The Board of Selectmen voted to call that meeting on July 14, 2026, and on the same night took up the ballot language for the debt exclusion that would pay for the building. Here is the part worth knowing before you read another word: the room that decides is open. Swansea has no elected Town Meeting members. Every registered voter in town is already a member, and by the town’s own bylaw the Annual Town Meeting sits on the third Monday of May. At the town election in April, 1,677 Swansea voters filled thirteen seats for everybody else. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Swansea at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Bristol. Swansea sits at the Rhode Island line on Mount Hope Bay, across 22.7 square miles of land, with about 756 people to the square mile. Town Hall is at 81 Main Street.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Board of Selectmen and an appointed Town Administrator, Mitchell Ruscitti.
- Schools: Swansea Public Schools, a single-town district of about 1,973 students in six schools, led by Superintendent Scott Holcomb.
How Swansea’s Government Works
Swansea runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Swansea is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 3 member Board of Selectmen to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Board of Selectmen 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 Board of Selectmen, 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 Swansea is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Board of Selectmen
3 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 Board of Selectmen. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
5 members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 3 members of the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee.
- The Board of Selectmen 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
- Board of Selectmen: meets every other Tuesday at 6:30 pm at the School Administration Building, One Gardners Neck Road. That is not Town Hall, so check the address as well as the date. Every agenda is posted in advance by the Town Clerk’s office.
- Town Meeting: by town bylaw the Annual Town Meeting is held on the third Monday of May. The 2026 Annual Town Meeting sat on May 18 at 7:30 pm, with a Special Town Meeting the same evening at 7:00 pm. A further Special Town Meeting is called for October 19, 2026.
- Town elections: the Annual Town Election falls on a Monday in April. In 2026 it was April 13, with all five precincts voting at Joseph Case High School and the polls open from noon to 8 pm. The next is April 12, 2027.
- Watch from home: Board of Selectmen meetings are carried live on Swansea Comcast Channel 96 and the Swansea Community Network Facebook page, and replayed afterwards.
Explore the Swansea Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Board of SelectmenYour three board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Swansea HistoryWelsh Baptists, and the vote of 1681
- DemographicsWho lives in Swansea
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataSwansea 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 Bristol County, and that includes Swansea. 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 Swansea
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 Board of Selectmen. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Board of Selectmen meets every other Tuesday at 6:30 pm at the School Administration Building, One Gardners Neck Road, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. There are only three of them and all three are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you, and one of the three seats is on the ballot every April.
- 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 Highway Department, 508-678-5615, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 81 Main Street, Swansea, MA 02777, 508-678-2981.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-678-2981 ext. 105, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at swanseama.gov.
- Public schools: Swansea Public Schools, swanseaschools.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Board of Selectmen, speak at a meeting, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.