Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Michael Blanchard
When a road goes unplowed or a permit stalls, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Michael Blanchard is the Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Board of Selectmen to run the town day to day, and they can let him go if they lose faith in him. That single arrangement explains most of how Dover is governed. The board sets direction and decides what the town should do; the Town Administrator decides how it gets done and makes it happen through the departments.
As the town’s chief administrative officer, he appoints and supervises most department heads, from public works to health to the assessors, and holds them to the policies the board has set. He builds the annual budget, deciding what each department will be asked to spend, then defends that plan first to the Board of Selectmen and then to Town Meeting, which holds the final vote. He negotiates contracts, manages the town’s staff and finances, and works with an Assistant Town Administrator who also serves as Finance Director. The office is where the practical questions land: whether there is money to fix a culvert this year, how a new hire is filled, what a department is allowed to promise.
What the office cannot do is spend money Town Meeting has not voted or override the board that hired it. That is the point of the design. Because Dover hands the daily machinery to an appointed professional rather than an elected mayor, a resident with a problem usually reaches the Town Administrator’s office first. The plan to fix it crosses that desk, then goes to the board for policy, and then, if it costs real money, to Town Meeting for the vote that only registered voters in the room can cast.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Board of Selectmen under contract, not elected |
| Office | Dover Town House, 5 Springdale Avenue, 2nd Floor, Dover, MA 02030 |
| Phone | 508-785-0032 Ext. 221 |
| Website | doverma.gov |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Police, fire, the highway department, health, recreation, and the rest answer to the Town Administrator, who appoints and supervises most of their leaders.
- Builds the budget. Each year the Town Administrator proposes how the town will spend its money, then defends that plan before the Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Answers to the board. The Town Administrator serves at the pleasure of the elected Board of Selectmen and carries out the policies it sets.
- Reports to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in Dover 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 Board of Selectmen 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 Board of Selectmen, decide questions like zoning, conservation, and licensing.
Contact & Engage
- Town House: 5 Springdale Avenue, 2nd Floor, Dover, MA 02030.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 508-785-0032 Ext. 221.
- Report a problem: potholes, broken lights, and missed pickups go to the Highway Department.
- Show up: the Board of Selectmen meets on its published calendar at the Town 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.