Nantucket Rejects Effort to Switch to Elected Town Government

Massachusetts has 351 communities, 50 cities and 301 towns. The Massachusetts Municipal Association says, "There are numerous variations of local government structure" in Massachusetts.

"Most towns (263) operate with an Open Town Meeting where any voter is permitted to attend and vote on legislative matters: budgets, bylaws, zoning, etc.," according to the MMA.

READ MORE: Nantucket Faces Potential Energy Supply Crisis

The Association says, "Fewer than 50 towns operate with a Representative Town Meeting where voters elect representatives to attend town meeting."

Get our free mobile app

Nantucket, with the small islands of Tuckermuck and Muskeget, constitutes the Town and County of Nantucket. The town has a population of about 15,000 that swells to more than 80,000 during the summer.

Nantucket has an Open Town Meeting form of government.

On Saturday, May 3, 2025, Annual Town Meeting members were asked to consider a non-binding "sense-of-the-meeting" question. The Nantucket Current reported the question was "developed by the Town Council Study Committee, which had been convening for the past two years."

READ MORE: Fall River Diocese Makes Million on Nantucket Real Estate Deal

The question read as follows: "To see if the Town will vote to direct the Town Council Study Committee to propose a Charter Revision in the form of a Home Rule Petition to be voted on at a future Town Meeting which would create a Town Council/Town Manager Form of Government; or to take any other action relative thereto."

The Current reported, "Town Meeting responded with a resounding 'No.'"

The vote was 251 yes and 477 no. That is exactly how an Open Town Meeting is supposed to work.

Nantucket has an executive branch of government that consists of a Select Board and a Town Manager, who handles the day-to-day business of running a town.

READ MORE: "First of Its Kind" Expedition Off Massachusetts' Southern Coast