Town Edition
Hampden County
Wales, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In 1897 the voters of Wales decided their town would have a library, accepted a gift of one hundred dollars in books from the state, and then met the obvious problem: there was nowhere to put them. So the books sat on shelves in Willis Chamberlin’s general store, where his wife served as the first librarian, until 1922, when the town voted five hundred dollars to fix up a room for them. That is how almost everything happens in Wales. A need appears, neighbors gather, and the town votes. The town still runs that way today, on an open Town Meeting where every registered voter is a member, and this guide shows you how to take your seat in the room.
Wales at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Hampden. Wales sits in the hill country of southeastern Hampden County, first settled by Europeans in 1726 and incorporated in 1775 as South Brimfield, a name it carried until 1828, when it was renamed for a local benefactor, James Lawrence Wales.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Board of Selectmen that serves as the town’s executive. Michael J. Valanzola chairs the board.
- Schools: Wales Elementary is its own district of about 107 students; older students attend the Tantasqua Regional schools in Sturbridge. Deborah J. Boyd is Superintendent of both.
How Wales’s Government Works
Wales runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Wales is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Board of Selectmen and the School Committee that oversees the town’s elementary school. The Selectmen serve as the town’s chief executive officers: they set policy, approve the bills, make appointments to town boards and offices, and carry the town’s business between Town Meetings, working out of an office staffed by an executive secretary rather than through an appointed administrator. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, and the direction and the daily work both belong to the board the voters elect.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Wales 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
Three members elected town-wide to three-year terms. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and serve as the town’s chief executive officers.
The Selectmen’s Office
The board’s own office at 3 Hollow Road carries the town’s daily paperwork, staffed by an executive secretary who works for the three elected members.
School Committee
Elected by the town’s voters. It sets policy for Wales Elementary, approves its budget, and shares a Superintendent with the Tantasqua Regional district.
- Residents elect the three members of the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee, and a ballot of working town offices.
- The Board of Selectmen runs the town between meetings: it sets policy, decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant, and carries out what Town Meeting votes.
- 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 monthly at 6:00 PM at the Town Offices on Hollow Road, and each agenda is posted in advance on the town website.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring, and the clerk posts the vote on every article afterward.
- Town elections: the Annual Town Election is held on the last Wednesday of May, and the Selectmen reorganized for the new year at their June 3, 2026 meeting. The next election is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The state primary is September 1, 2026, and the clerk offers early voting and vote by mail.
Explore the Wales Edition
- Board of Selectmen’s OfficeThe board that runs the town
- Board of SelectmenYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Wales HistoryFrom South Brimfield to Wales
- DemographicsWho lives in Wales
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataWales 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 Wales. 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 Wales
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 licenses 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 monthly at 6:00 PM at the Town Offices on Hollow Road, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All three Board of Selectmen 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. To be placed on an agenda, email the Executive Secretary at select@townofwales.net.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken sign, or a plowing problem to the Department of Public Works at 413-245-7494, which owns the repair.
- Town offices: 3 Hollow Road. Board of Selectmen office 413-245-7571 Ext. 100, open to the public Monday through Thursday 9:00 to 3:00.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 413-245-7571 Ext. 101, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at townofwales.net.
- Public schools: Tantasqua Regional and School Union 61 Districts, tantasqua.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Board of Selectmen, speak at a meeting on a Monday evening, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.