Town Leadership
The Town Manager’s Office
The Town Manager
Michael D. Herbert
When a road goes unplowed or a permit stalls, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Michael D. Herbert is Ashland’s Town Manager, hired by the five elected members of the Select Board. The powers of the office are written into Ashland’s own charter, which the Legislature enacted as Chapter 409 of the Acts of 2018 and the town adopted on January 9, 2019.
That charter settles the question most residents get wrong. Section 5-5(a) says the Town Manager appoints, on merit and qualifications, a police chief, a fire chief, a treasurer collector, a town accountant, a town clerk and every other department head for whom the charter provides no other method of selection. The head of nearly every department you deal with was chosen by this office, which is why none of their names appears on a ballot.
The Select Board’s check on that power is not a confirmation vote. Section 5-5(b) gives the board a window instead: an appointment the Town Manager proposes takes effect on the fifteenth day after notice of it is filed at a Select Board meeting, unless a majority of the board votes to reject it first or votes to waive the wait. Four appointments work differently again. Under section 5-5(c) the health agent, the assessor, the planner and the library director are appointed with the consent of the Board of Health, the Board of Assessors, the Planning Board and the Library Trustees, each of which interviews candidates and recommends; section 5-5(e) makes those four effective immediately and places them outside the Select Board’s rejection window entirely.
The money runs through the same office. By October 1 each year the Town Manager, with the Select Board’s approval and after consulting the Finance Committee, issues the budget schedule that every department, board and committee files into, the School Committee included. Section 7-1(e) requires the Town Manager to prepare a budget that is a complete financial plan for all town funds and activities, and section 7-2(b) settles whose budget Town Meeting actually votes: the Town Manager’s, carrying the Finance Committee’s recommendations alongside it. Section 7-3(a) adds a capital improvements program covering the next five fiscal years, and section 7-4 makes the Town Manager’s approval of a payment warrant sufficient authority to pay the town’s bills.
So the plan to fix a problem usually starts in this office, then goes to the Select Board, and then to the hall where every registered voter in Ashland can vote it up or down.
| Role | Town Manager (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board under charter section 3-2(c), not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 101 Main Street, First Floor, Ashland, MA 01721 |
| Phone | 508-881-0100 ext. 2021 |
| Website | ashlandmass.com |
What the Town Manager Does
- Appoints the department heads. Charter section 5-5(a) gives the Town Manager the appointment of the police chief, the fire chief, the treasurer collector, the town accountant, the town clerk and every other department head the charter does not assign elsewhere, on merit and qualifications.
- Names four officers jointly with a board. The health agent, the assessor, the planner and the library director are appointed under section 5-5(c) only with the consent of the Board of Health, the Board of Assessors, the Planning Board and the Board of Library Trustees, each of which interviews the candidates and recommends.
- Builds the budget. Section 7-1 puts the annual budget schedule and the budget itself in the Town Manager’s hands, section 7-3(a) adds a five year capital improvements program, and section 7-4 makes the Town Manager’s approval of a payment warrant sufficient authority to pay a town bill.
- Answers to the board. The Select Board appoints the Town Manager under section 3-2(c) and sets the policy direction the office works under.
- Shows you the capital plan. Section 7-3(c) requires the capital improvements program and a status report on projects already approved to be part of the presentation to the Town Meeting that considers the capital budget. That is the document to ask for if you want to know what the town intends to build next.
What the Charter Splits Between Them
Ashland has been governed under this charter since January 9, 2019, when the town adopted Chapter 409 of the Acts of 2018, and the Legislature amended it by Chapter 380 of the Acts of 2020, the act that renamed the board of selectmen the Select Board. The charter divides the appointing power four ways, and the division is worth knowing before you decide whom to write to.
- Town Meeting holds the legislative power outright, which means the budget and the bylaws. Nothing in the Town Manager’s authority reaches that.
- The voters fill eight offices directly under section 3-1(a): the Select Board, the School Committee, the Town Moderator, the Board of Assessors, the Board of Health, the Planning Board, the Board of Library Trustees and the Housing Authority.
- The Select Board appoints the Town Manager, Town Counsel, the external auditor who performs the town’s annual financial audit, the registrars of voters, and every other town officer and multiple member body the charter does not assign elsewhere, under section 3-2(c).
- The Town Moderator appoints the Finance Committee under section 3-4(b), which is the one most residents do not expect. The committee that reviews the budget is seated by the person who runs Town Meeting, not by the board and not by the manager.
- The Town Manager appoints the department heads under section 5-5(a), and the four consent officers under section 5-5(c).
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 101 Main Street, Ashland, MA 01721. The Town Manager’s Office is on the first floor.
- Town Manager’s Office: 508-881-0100 ext. 2021.
- Report a problem: potholes, broken lights, water and snow go to the Department of Public Works at 508-881-0120.
- Show up: the Select Board 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.