Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Pamela Guyette
When a road goes unplowed or a culvert fails on a hill road, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Pamela Guyette is Buckland’s Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board to run the town day to day, and they can let her go if they lose faith in her. She is the chief administrative officer: she carries out the policies the board sets, shapes and presents the annual budget, oversees the town’s daily operations and personnel, and helps prepare the warrant articles and spending requests that go to Town Meeting for the final vote. She is appointed by the Select Board and serves under it. Because Buckland hands the daily machinery to an appointed administrator, the plan to fix a problem usually crosses her desk first, then goes to the board and to Town Meeting. In a town this size that one office is also the front door: budgets, grants like the MassWorks money behind the Bridge of Flowers, contracts, and the coordination of a small staff all run through it.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 17 State Street, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370 |
| Phone | (413) 625-6330 ext. 5 |
| Website | town.buckland.ma.us |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the town’s operations. The police, highway, clerk, assessing, and collector-treasurer offices, along with the rest of the small staff at Town Hall, look to the Town Administrator to keep the daily work moving.
- Builds the budget. Each year the Town Administrator helps prepare how the town will spend its money, then works with the Select Board and the Finance Committee before Town Meeting holds the final vote.
- Answers to the board. The Town Administrator serves under 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 Buckland that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Town Hall staff carry out policy day to day, from the clerk’s counter to the highway garage.
- The Select Board is the check: it hires and can dismiss 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: 17 State Street, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370.
- Town Administrator’s Office: (413) 625-6330 ext. 5, twnadmin@town.buckland.ma.us.
- Report a problem: potholes, plowing, and transfer-station questions go to the Highway and Refuse Department at (413) 625-2367.
- Show up: the Select Board meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 5:00 pm at Town Hall, and the public is welcome.
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