Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Marie Sobalvarro
When a road goes unplowed or a new subdivision is proposed off Main Street, the person with the most day-to-day control over the town’s response is appointed, not elected. Marie Sobalvarro is Bolton’s Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board to run the town between Town Meetings, and the board can let her go if it loses confidence in her. That single fact explains a lot about how Bolton works: the voters choose the board, the board chooses the administrator, and so the chain of accountability runs from you to the ballot to the board to her desk.
As chief administrative officer she does the work that keeps a town of about 5,665 people running. She appoints and supervises most department heads, from public works to the building inspector. She assembles the annual budget, weighing what every department asks for against what the town can raise, and then she defends that plan in public, first before the Select Board and then before Town Meeting, where any registered voter can stand up and question it. She negotiates contracts, manages the town’s employees, and carries the biggest spending requests, a new fire truck, a building project, a union agreement, to the floor of Town Meeting for the final vote.
What she cannot do matters as much as what she can. She does not set policy on her own; the Select Board does that, and Town Meeting holds the power of the purse. She serves under a contract, not a fixed elected term, so her job depends on keeping the confidence of the board the voters elected. That is the split at the heart of this form of government: the board and Town Meeting decide what the town will do, and the administrator decides how to get it done. For a resident, that makes her office the place where a problem usually becomes a plan, and knowing who is appointed, and by whom, tells you exactly where to push.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board under contract, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 663 Main Street, Bolton, MA 01740 |
| Phone | 978-779-3300 |
| Website | bolton-ma.gov |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Police, fire, public works, health, 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 Select Board and Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Answers to the board. The 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 Bolton 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 septic systems.
- The Select Board 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 Select Board, decide questions like zoning, conservation, and licensing.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 663 Main Street, Bolton, MA 01740.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 978-779-3300.
- Report a problem: potholes, broken lights, and missed pickups go to the Department of Public Works.
- Show up: the Select Board meets on alternating Thursday evenings 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.