Town Edition
Dukes County
Tisbury, Massachusetts
Photo: Arwcheek, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In June 2021, Tisbury voters sat under a tent on the school lawn and backed a $55 million rebuild of their nearly century-old school, 237 to 5, then went to the ballot box nine days later and passed the tax increase to pay for it, 821 to 224. When inflation threatened to kill the job, they came back in September 2022 and voted 373 to 112 to add $25.6 million more, and in the fall of 2024 students walked into a finished school with the first full-size gym Tisbury has ever had. That is how this town settles its biggest questions: first on the floor of an open Town Meeting, then again at the ballot box, with the deciding vote belonging to whoever shows up. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Tisbury at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Dukes. Tisbury sits on the north shore of Martha’s Vineyard, about 6.5 square miles of land whose built-up heart is the village of Vineyard Haven, home to the island’s main Steamship Authority ferry docks.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Joseph LaCivita.
- Schools: the Tisbury School, a K-8 district of about 288 students; high-school students attend the regional Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. All six island districts share one superintendent, Jaime L. Curley.
How Tisbury’s Government Works
Tisbury runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Tisbury 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 town’s K-8 school. 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 Tisbury is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. 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 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
Three members, elected town-wide, who set policy for the K-8 Tisbury School, approve its budget, and work with the shared island superintendent.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and the three 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: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets most Tuesday afternoons at 4:30 pm in a hybrid format, in person at Town Hall, 51 Spring Street, Vineyard Haven, and online. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held each spring in the Tisbury School gymnasium, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- Town elections: Tisbury votes in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on May 12. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Tisbury 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.
- Tisbury HistoryTakemmy, Holmes Hole, and 1671
- DemographicsWho lives in Tisbury
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataTisbury 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 Dukes County, and that includes Tisbury. 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 Tisbury
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 most Tuesday afternoons at 4:30 pm at Town Hall, 51 Spring Street, Vineyard Haven, in person and online, 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: 51 Spring Street, P.O. Box 1239, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568. Select Board office 508-696-4202.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-696-4215, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at tisburyma.gov.
- Public schools: the Tisbury School, 508-696-6500, and the island district office at mvyps.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.