Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Diana Parsons
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. Diana Parsons is Colrain’s Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board to run the town day to day, and the board can end that appointment if it loses confidence. The Town Administrator is the chief administrative officer: the office 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. The role is appointed by the Select Board and serves under it. Because Colrain hands the daily machinery to an appointed administrator, the plan to fix a problem usually crosses this 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, contracts, and the coordination of a small staff all run through it, including the town-owned broadband utility the Select Board oversees as Municipal Light Plant commissioners.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 55 Main Road, Colrain, MA 01340 |
| Phone | 413-624-6306 |
| Website | colrain-ma.gov |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the town’s operations. The police, highway, clerk, assessing, tax collector, and 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 Colrain 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: 55 Main Road, Colrain, MA 01340.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 413-624-6306, bos@colrain-ma.gov.
- Report a problem: potholes, plowing, and transfer-station questions go to the Highway and Transfer Station department at 413-624-5500.
- Show up: the Select Board meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 4:30 pm at the Town Highway Garage, and the public is welcome.
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