Town Leadership
The Selectboard’s Office
Three Executives, All of Them Elected
The Selectboard as Executive
When a road goes unplowed in Cummington, the response does not cross an administrator’s desk, because the town does not employ one. The three elected members of the Selectboard, Kenneth Howes, Kyle Citro, and June Lynds, run the town themselves. The town bylaws and the General Laws of Massachusetts make the board Cummington’s chief executive officers: it sets policy for the whole town, makes appointments to town boards and committees, recommends the budget to the Annual Town Meeting, oversees the town’s departments and its counsel, and acts as the local licensing authority. Most Massachusetts towns of this shape hire a professional Town Administrator to carry the daily machinery; Cummington keeps that machinery in the hands of the people it elects, supported by an administrative assistant in the town office. That changes what an election here means: when you vote for a Selectboard member, you are not choosing someone to supervise a manager, you are choosing a working executive. The person who answers for the plowing schedule and the town budget sits at a public table at the Community House every other Thursday, and the seat across from them is open to any resident who walks in.
| Role | Selectboard, the town’s chief executive and licensing authority |
|---|---|
| Selection | Three members elected town-wide to staggered three-year terms |
| Office | Community House, 33 Main Street, Cummington, MA 01026 |
| Phone | 413-634-5439 |
| Website | cummington-ma.gov |
What the Selectboard’s Office Does
- Sets policy. The board acts as the town’s primary policy-making body on the whole range of issues that affect Cummington’s services and development.
- Builds the warrant. The board decides what reaches Town Meeting, signing the warrant for every Annual and Special Town Meeting.
- Recommends the budget. The board recommends the annual budget to the Annual Town Meeting, alongside the elected Finance Committee’s review, and Town Meeting holds the final vote.
- Licenses and appoints. The board is the local licensing authority and appoints residents to the town’s permanent and ad hoc boards and commissions.
- Answers to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in Cummington that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- The office staff: Administrative Assistant Denise Bannister staffs the Selectboard’s office at the Community House and handles the town’s daily paperwork for the three elected members.
- Elected offices carry much of the work. Cummington voters fill the Assessors, the Board of Health, the Planning Board, the Municipal Light Plant Board, the Water Commissioners, the Finance Committee, the Library Trustees, the Town Clerk, the Moderator, and the town’s seat on the regional School Committee, so the executive branch here is a web of ballots, not one org chart.
- Boards and commissions, permanent and ad hoc, are appointed by the Selectboard and decide questions like zoning, conservation, and historic preservation.
Contact & Engage
- Town offices: Community House, 33 Main Street, Cummington, MA 01026, 413-634-5354.
- Selectboard’s office: 413-634-5439, selectboard@cummington-ma.gov.
- Report a problem: potholes, broken signs, and plowing go to the Highway Department, 413-634-8818.
- Show up: the board meets every other Thursday at the Community House, and the public is welcome.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.