Town Edition
Bristol County
Westport, Massachusetts
The building where Westport’s fifth graders and its seniors walk the same hallways cost $97 million, and it exists because this town voted to spend the money. Westport Middle-High School on Old County Road opened on September 7, 2021, and its MakerSpace holds a boat shop where students build boats on Westport designs. None of that was automatic. In an open town meeting town the budget is voted by the registered voters who walk into the room, and on May 5, 2026, 237 of them filled that same school and approved every article on the warrant in just under three hours, including a $60.025 million operating budget. This guide shows you how to get into the room.
Westport at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Bristol. Westport is bordered by Fall River to the northwest and west, Dartmouth to the east, Rhode Island Sound to the south, and Little Compton and Tiverton in Rhode Island. It has five historic villages: North Westport, Westport Point, Central Village, Head of Westport, and Acoaxet, also called Westport Harbor.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Chris Vitale.
- Schools: Westport Community Schools, about 1,511 students across three schools, led by Superintendent Fran Roy.
How Westport’s Government Works
Westport runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Westport is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the 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 Westport 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
5 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
5 members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and 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 every other Monday at 6:00 pm in the Select Board Meeting Room on the second floor of Town Hall, 816 Main Road. Agendas are posted in advance, and a request to put an item on one is due by 4:00 pm on the Monday a week before the meeting.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held on the first Tuesday in May at 7:00 pm at Westport Middle-High School, and it continues Wednesday and Thursday if the warrant runs long. The Select Board can call a Special Town Meeting whenever business cannot wait.
- Town elections: Westport votes in the spring. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on Tuesday, April 14, across the town’s five precincts, A through E.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 State Primary is Tuesday, September 1, and the State Election is Tuesday, November 3.
Explore the Westport 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.
- Westport HistoryCoaksett, Paul Cuffe, and 1787
- DemographicsWho lives in Westport
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataWestport 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 Bristol County, and that includes Westport. 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 Westport
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, licences and public safety go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and the bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets every other Monday at 6:00 pm at Town Hall, 816 Main Road, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Ask for the agenda slot. Residents may request that an item be placed on a Select Board agenda. Send the request with your supporting material by 4:00 pm on the Monday a week before the meeting.
- Or skip the trip. A pothole, a washed-out shoulder or a plow question goes to the Highway Department at (508) 636-1020.
- Town Hall: 816 Main Road, Westport, MA 02790. Select Board office (508) 636-1004.
- Town Clerk: (508) 636-1000, for records, voter registration and the annual town census.
- Public schools: Westport Community Schools, 17 Main Road, (508) 636-1140.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, ask for a spot on an agenda, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.