Town Edition
Franklin County
Wendell, Massachusetts
On a June night in 2025, 117 people crowded into Wendell’s Town Hall and voted to tax themselves harder, approving a Proposition 2 1/2 override to fund the town budget, the first override the meeting had backed in about two decades. That room, and not a mayor or a manager, is where Wendell decides. The town of 924 people runs itself the old New England way: an open Town Meeting writes the budget, and a three-member Select Board, with no appointed administrator above it, does the executive work in between. The town’s own rule for the meeting is blunt: registered voters cast the votes, but anyone else, you included, may attend and may speak if the moderator recognizes you. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Wendell at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Franklin. Wendell sits in the hill country of north central Massachusetts, first settled in 1754 and incorporated in 1781, its town center a National Register historic district and its southern half filled by the 7,566 acres of Wendell State Forest.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board that serves as the town’s executive. Laurie DiDonato chairs the board, and the town owns and runs its own broadband network, Wendell Net.
- Schools: Wendell shares the Swift River School with New Salem for grades pre-kindergarten through 6, a district of about 140 students led by Superintendent Shannon White-Cleveland; older students attend Ralph C. Mahar Regional in Orange.
How Wendell’s Government Works
Wendell runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Wendell is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a three-member Select Board and a long ballot of working town offices. 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 a Town Coordinator 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 Wendell 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 to staggered three-year terms. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to town boards, and serve as the town’s chief executive officers.
The Selectboard’s Office
The board’s own office at the Town Offices, 9 Morse Village Road, carries the town’s daily paperwork, staffed by Town Coordinator Kelly Tyler, who supports the elected members rather than running the town.
School Committee
Elected by the voters of Wendell and New Salem together. It sets policy for the Swift River School, approves its budget, and shares a Superintendent across School Union 28.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board, the School Committee, and a long ballot of working town offices.
- The Select Board 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
- Select Board: meets at 7 pm on Wednesday every two weeks at the Town Offices, 9 Morse Village Road, with each agenda posted in advance and a videoconference link on the notice.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring, and the Selectboard makes the warrant. A resident can add an article to the annual warrant with 10 voter signatures, or 90 for a special town meeting.
- Town elections: the Annual Town Election is held in early May. A Special Election on September 1, 2026 is filling an open Select Board seat.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The state primary shares the September 1, 2026 ballot, and the clerk offers early voting and vote by mail.
Explore the Wendell Edition
- Select Board’s OfficeThe board that runs the town
- Select BoardYour board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Wendell HistoryA hilltown since 1781
- DemographicsWho lives in Wendell
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataWendell 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 Franklin County, and that includes Wendell. 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 Wendell
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 Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets at 7 pm on Wednesday every two weeks at the Town Offices, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. The Select Board is elected town-wide, so every member answers to you.
- Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. The town posts each agenda 48 hours ahead with a videoconference link.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a washed-out gravel road, or a plowing problem to the Highway Department at 978-544-3735, which owns the repair.
- Town offices: 9 Morse Village Road. The Town Coordinator staffs the Select Board office and reaches the board at 978-544-3395 ext. 0.
- Town Clerk & agendas: Anna Wetherby, 978-544-3395 ext. 2, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at wendellmass.us.
- Public schools: the Swift River School for pre-kindergarten through grade 6, and Ralph C. Mahar Regional in Orange for grades 7 to 12.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on a Wednesday evening, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.