Town Leadership
The Acushnet Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Adam Lamontagne
When a road goes unplowed or a water main breaks, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Adam Lamontagne is Acushnet’s Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Board of Selectmen to run the town day to day, and they can let him go if they lose faith in him. That single fact explains most of how the town works. In a Massachusetts town like Acushnet the elected board sets policy and the Town Administrator carries it out, so the split between the two is a split between what the town decides and how it gets done.
The office is the town’s chief administrative officer. Lamontagne appoints and supervises most department heads, from the Department of Public Works to the Building Department, and the people who plow the roads, inspect the restaurants, and issue the permits answer up through him. He builds the annual budget line by line, working with each department and the elected Finance Committee, and then he defends that plan in public before the Board of Selectmen. Nothing in that budget becomes real, though, until it clears the room that has the last word.
That room is open Town Meeting. The Town Administrator can propose, the board can endorse, but the budget and the bylaws are voted by whatever registered voters show up, and Town Meeting can cut a line the administrator and the board both wanted. So the plan to fix a problem usually crosses the administrator’s desk first, then goes to the Board of Selectmen for the warrant, and finally to Town Meeting for the vote. A resident who wants to change something can push at any of those three points, and the last one is the one anyone can walk into.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Board of Selectmen under contract, not elected |
| Office | Acushnet Town Hall, 122 Main Street, Acushnet, MA 02743 |
| Phone | (508) 998-0200 Ext. 9 |
| Website | acushnet.ma.us |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Police, fire, public works, health, the council on aging, and the rest answer to the Town Administrator, who appoints most of their leaders.
- Builds the budget. Each year the Administrator proposes how the town will spend its money, then defends that plan before the Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Answers to the board. The Administrator serves at the pleasure of the elected Board of Selectmen and carries out the policies it sets.
- Reports to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in Acushnet that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department heads are appointed by the Town Administrator and carry out policy, from plowing snow to inspecting restaurants.
- The Board of Selectmen is the check: it hires and can fire the Administrator, sets policy, and signs the warrants that put questions before Town Meeting.
- Boards and commissions, many of them appointed by the Board of Selectmen, decide questions like zoning, conservation, and licensing.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 122 Main Street, Acushnet, MA 02743.
- Town Administrator’s Office: (508) 998-0200 Ext. 9.
- Report a problem: potholes, broken lights, and missed pickups go to the Department of Public Works.
- Show up: the Board of Selectmen meets on its published calendar at Town Hall, and the public is welcome.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.
MassCivics last checked this page on September 13, 2026.