Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Louis Bordeaux
When a road washes out or a new house rises off Route 10, the person with the most operational control over the town’s response is appointed, not elected. Louis Bordeaux is the Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board to run Bernardston day to day, and they can let him go if they lose faith in him. He is the chief administrative officer: he appoints and supervises most department heads, shapes and presents the annual budget, and carries the town’s biggest spending requests to Town Meeting for the final vote, where every registered voter in the room decides. He is appointed by the Select Board and serves under a contract that pays a full-time salary of 72,000 dollars a year.
Bordeaux is not new to the job. He served as Bernardston’s Town Coordinator until he retired in November 2023, and he returned to Town Hall on April 13, 2026 to succeed Karen Kelly, who left to spend more time with family. Because Bernardston hands the daily machinery to an appointed administrator rather than an elected mayor, the plan to fix a problem usually crosses his desk first, then goes to the board and, when it involves real money or a bylaw, to Town Meeting. Understanding that path is the difference between a complaint that goes nowhere and one that reaches the vote that can act on it.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board under contract, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 38 Church Street, PO Box 504, Bernardston, MA 01337 |
| Phone | 413-648-5401 |
| Website | townofbernardston.org |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Police, fire, highway, health, the library, and the rest answer to the Town Administrator, who appoints most of their leaders.
- Builds the budget. Each year the Town Administrator proposes how the town will spend its money, including its assessment to the regional school district, then defends that plan before the Select Board and Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Answers to the board. The Town Administrator serves at the pleasure of the elected Select Board and carries out the policies it sets.
- Reports to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in Bernardston 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 Select Board is the check: it hires and can fire the Town Administrator, 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.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 38 Church Street, PO Box 504, Bernardston, MA 01337.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 413-648-5401.
- Report a problem: road and culvert repairs go to the Highway Department at 413-648-5424.
- 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.