Town Meeting 2026

Date: Monday, May 4 at 7 p.m. and possibly Tuesday, May

Location: Marblehead High School Field House - not Veterans Middle School. (From The Moderator: “This year we will meet again at the high school fieldhouse, which has a capacity of 3,000 people. Overflow space for an additional 475 voters will be available in the adjacent auditorium, totaling in a capacity of 3,475 voters. As a reference point, we had about 1,800 voters in the field house last May. The town has purchased new audio and visual equipment to improve the field house AV system.”)

Warrant: Here

Guide to 2026 Town Meeting: Here

Intro to Town Meeting: Here

  • Parking: We recommend carpooling as parking at the High School will be extremely limited. (From The Moderator: “Parking for Town Meeting will be available at the high school and the Jacobi Community Center, as well as the parking lots at the town offices at Widger Road, the Lucretia and Joseph Brown School and the parking lot at St. Stephen’s Church. Street parking is also an option.”)

  • Childcare: The Rec n Parks department is offering childcare at the Community Center. (From The Moderator: “The Recreation and Parks Department will be offering free childcare for children of Marblehead voters attending Town Meeting (kindergarten to grade six) from 5:45-10 p.m. at the Jacobi Community Center. Children and infants who do not require an additional seat will be allowed to sit with their respective adult voter but must remain seated during Town Meeting.”)

Override Information:

This is one of the most consequential decisions Marblehead has faced in many years.

  • Voters will decide whether to send a general override question to a town-wide ballot in June.

  • The budget and override articles fall later on in the warrant (Articles 23 & 29) and likely won’t come up on their own until well into the evening.

  • We will make a subsidiary motion to Article 1 to bring Articles 23 & 29 forward and address them at the beginning of the meeting.

  • We will work with Town Meeting leadership and the Select Board to ensure our motion includes all articles that must properly precede the budget and override, so the process is handled correctly and respectfully.

Looking for a deep dive on the budget situation? Check out our explainer.

If you support putting the override question in front of all Marblehead voters on a town-wide ballot in June:

  1. Come to Town Meeting on Monday night. 

  2. Get there early — the line to check in may be long.

  3. Vote YES on the Article 1 motion to take Articles 23 & 29 out of order.

  4. Vote YES on Articles 23 & 29.

Please stay as long as you can, and plan to return Tuesday night if needed! Every article on the warrant is important and your voice matters.