Town Edition
Dukes County
West Tisbury, Massachusetts
On the night of April 12, 2022, 372 West Tisbury voters filled a Town Meeting and voted 324 to 27 to tax the sale of expensive real estate in their own town, 2 percent on any sale above a million dollars, to build housing that working people could actually afford. They were the first town on Martha’s Vineyard to say yes, and they were repeating something the island had done once before: in 1986 island voters created the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank with the same kind of 2 percent fee, and it has since put about 4,200 acres permanently out of a developer’s reach, including 191 acres at Waskosim’s Rock in West Tisbury. In an open Town Meeting town, decisions like that belong to whoever walks into the room. This guide shows you how to get in.
West Tisbury at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Dukes. West Tisbury is an up-island town on Martha’s Vineyard, set off from Tisbury in 1892, taking in the villages of North Tisbury and the historic Wampanoag community of Christiantown.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Jennifer Rand.
- Schools: the Up-Island Regional School District, about 408 students, led by Superintendent Jaime L. Curley, Ed.D.
How West Tisbury’s Government Works
West Tisbury runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in West 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 they join with Chilmark and Aquinnah to elect the regional School Committee that oversees the up-island schools. 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 West 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
Five members, elected by the voters of the Up-Island Regional district that West Tisbury shares with Chilmark and Aquinnah. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the three members of the Select Board and West Tisbury’s share of the regional 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 Wednesdays at 4:30 pm on the second floor of West Tisbury Town Hall, 1059 State Road. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held each April, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. The 2026 Annual Town Meeting opened on April 14 at the West Tisbury School with 276 voters checked in.
- Town elections: West Tisbury votes each April. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on April 16, and a Special Town Election followed on June 2. The next annual election is in April 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the West Tisbury Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour three board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- West Tisbury HistoryChristiantown, farms, and 1892
- DemographicsWho lives in West Tisbury
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataUp-Island Regional 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 West 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 West 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 Wednesdays at 4:30 pm at West Tisbury Town Hall, 1059 State Road, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. 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 washed-out shoulder, or a downed sign to the Highway Department, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 1059 State Road, West Tisbury, MA 02575. Select Board office 508-696-0100.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-696-0148, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at westtisbury-ma.gov.
- Public schools: the Up-Island Regional School District, 508-696-7738, wtisburyschool.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.