Town Edition
Norfolk County
Westwood, Massachusetts
On Monday May 4, 2026, 388 registered voters walked into Westwood’s Annual Town Meeting and voted the town’s entire operating budget for the coming year, 199 to 34, on an electronic vote the Moderator read out loud. The same room put $325,000 toward designing a new Fire Station 1 by 238 to 69, and worked through 31 articles before it went home. Westwood is a town of about 16,000 people whose legislature is whoever shows up, and that night it was 388 people. Every one of them had to do exactly two things to get a vote: live here, and register. This guide shows you how the rest of it works.
Westwood at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Norfolk. Westwood covers about 11 square miles between Dedham and Walpole, and it includes the village of Islington, where Wentworth Hall houses the branch library and the Youth and Family Services department.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected three-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Connor Read.
- Schools: Westwood Public Schools, about 2,839 students across seven schools, led by Superintendent Timothy G. Piwowar.
How Westwood’s Government Works
Westwood runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Westwood is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 3 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 Westwood 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
3 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 town-wide. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 3 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 most Monday evenings, in person and online, at Town Hall, 580 High Street. Agendas are posted in advance on the town’s meeting portal.
- Town Meeting: the town bylaws set the Annual Town Meeting on the first Monday in May. In 2026 that was Monday May 4. Check-in opens at 5:30 pm, new officials are sworn in at 6:00 pm, and business begins at 6:30 pm.
- Town elections: Westwood votes in April. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on Tuesday April 28 across five precincts.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Westwood 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.
- Westwood HistoryWest Dedham, 1897, and a name that nearly stuck
- DemographicsWho lives in Westwood
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataWestwood 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 Norfolk County, and that includes Westwood. 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 Westwood
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 most Monday evenings at Town Hall, 580 High Street, in person and online, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All 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 under its public comment policy. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 580 High Street, Westwood, MA 02090. Main number 781-326-6450. Select Board office 781-326-4172.
- Public Works: 50 Carby Street, 781-326-8661.
- Public schools: Westwood Public Schools, 220 Nahatan Street, 781-326-7500.
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.