Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Paul McLatchy III
When a road washes out, when a permit stalls, or when the town’s own fiber network needs a contract signed, the person with the most day to day control over the answer in Ashfield is appointed, not elected. Paul McLatchy III is the Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board and working under their direction. The town’s own description of the job is modest about it: the Administrator provides support services to the Select Board in managing town affairs, and assists the boards and committees under the Board’s jurisdiction.
Then you read the list of what that means. The Town Administrator works closely with the Select Board, the Finance Committee and the department heads to consolidate a proposed budget each year, and administers that budget once Town Meeting adopts it. He serves as the purchasing agent for the town. He prepares bills for the Town Accountant across a range of departments and budgets, and helps maintain and monitor the balances left in each. He carries out the directives of the Select Board, writes the reports and communications that go with them, and is responsible for implementing every policy decision the Board makes by giving staff in each department clear and efficient operating procedures to follow.
He is also the town’s connective tissue. The Administrator is the liaison between the Select Board and the town’s committees, departments and regional government, and between the Board and outside public and private agencies, businesses and residents. He attends the Board’s meetings, prepares the agenda and the supporting documents, and takes the minutes. He assists with preparations for the Annual Town Meeting and for any Special Town Meeting. He advises the Board and the general public on the current state of the town’s affairs, and he is responsible for preparing an annual report of the previous year’s activities. He also applies for and seeks out grants, which in a town of 1,695 people is often the difference between a project happening this year and a project waiting.
Here is the split worth holding onto. The Select Board decides what the town will do: it sets policy and strategic direction, signs the warrant that determines what Town Meeting gets to vote on, and appoints residents to town boards and offices. The Town Administrator handles how it gets done. And Town Meeting still holds the last word on the money. So a resident with a problem has three real places to push, and the first one is usually this office.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 412 Main Street, PO Box 560, Ashfield, MA 01330 |
| Phone | 413-628-4441 ext. 7 |
| townadmin@ashfield.org | |
| Hours | Monday through Thursday, 8 AM to 4 PM; Friday 8 AM to 12 PM |
| Website | ashfield.org |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the town’s day to day operation. The Select Board’s own page says the Board works with its Town Administrator, who oversees the daily operation of the town under the Board’s direction.
- Builds the budget. Each year the Administrator works with the Select Board, the Finance Committee and the department heads to assemble a proposed budget, then administers it once Town Meeting has voted it.
- Buys for the town. The Administrator is the town’s purchasing agent, and prepares the bills that go to the Town Accountant.
- Answers to the board. The Administrator carries out the directives of the elected Select Board and implements the policies it sets.
- Reports to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in Ashfield that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department heads run the work itself, from plowing Ashfield’s roads to keeping the town’s fiber network running, and the Administrator is the point where their work meets town policy.
- The Select Board is the check: it employs the professional administrative staff and town counsel, sets policy, and signs the warrants that put questions before Town Meeting.
- Boards and commissions, many of them appointed by the Select Board, decide questions like zoning, conservation, and licensing.
- If nobody is available, the town has written down what happens next: in an emergency where no Select Board member can be reached, authority passes to the chair of the Finance Committee and then to the chair of the Planning Board.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 412 Main Street, PO Box 560, Ashfield, MA 01330. Main line 413-628-4441.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 413-628-4441 ext. 7, townadmin@ashfield.org.
- Get on the agenda: contact the Town Administrator by 3:00 on the Wednesday before the Select Board meets.
- Report a road problem: potholes, washouts, and plowing go to the Highway Department at 413-628-4448.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.