Town Edition
Plymouth County
West Bridgewater, Massachusetts
In 2010 West Bridgewater’s Town Meeting voted to spend $400,000 of the town’s own Community Preservation money to protect the 116 acres of Anderson Farm, and the farm is still there. That is the bargain in a town this size: the state can offer millions toward a new Rose L. MacDonald Elementary School, as it moved to do in December 2025, but nothing rises out of the ground until residents walk into the high school auditorium and raise their hands. West Bridgewater still runs on open Town Meeting, where every registered voter is a lawmaker. This guide shows you how to get into that room, and what happens once you are in it.
West Bridgewater at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Plymouth. West Bridgewater is a compact town of about 15.3 square miles at the head of the Town River, in the cluster of Bridgewaters south of Brockton. It was part of the original Bridgewater until it was set off as its own town in 1822.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Board of Selectmen and an appointed Town Administrator, David Gagne.
- Schools: West Bridgewater Public Schools, its own single-town district of about 1,360 students, led by Superintendent Mark Bodwell.
How West Bridgewater’s Government Works
West Bridgewater runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in West Bridgewater 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 to set policy between meetings and a five-member 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 West Bridgewater is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. Town Moderator Jason Ross, elected town-wide, presides over the meeting and runs the floor. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Board of Selectmen
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 Board of Selectmen. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
Five members, elected town-wide. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent who runs the single-town district.
- Residents elect the three members of the Board of Selectmen and the five members of 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 on the first and third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 PM in the Eldon F. Moreira Board of Selectmen Meeting Room on the second floor of Town Hall, 65 North Main Street. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held in the spring, usually at the West Bridgewater Middle/Senior High School, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- Town elections: West Bridgewater holds its Annual Town Election in the spring. At the April 2026 election the town re-elected incumbent Jeffrey P. Ryan to the Board of Selectmen. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the West Bridgewater 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.
- West Bridgewater HistoryFrom Old Bridgewater to 1822
- DemographicsWho lives in West Bridgewater
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataWest Bridgewater 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 Plymouth County, and that includes West Bridgewater. 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 West Bridgewater
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 on the first and third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 PM in Town Hall, 65 North Main Street, 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. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a road problem to the Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 65 North Main Street, West Bridgewater, MA 02379. Board of Selectmen office 508-894-1200.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-894-1167, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at westbridgewaterma.org.
- Public schools: West Bridgewater Public Schools, 508-894-1230, wbridgewaterschools.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Board of Selectmen, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.