Town Leadership
The East Longmeadow Town Manager’s Office
The Town Manager
Thomas D. Christensen
When a water main breaks on Parker Street or a plow route gets missed, the person with the most operational control over the result is appointed, not elected. Thomas D. Christensen is the Town Manager, and the charter East Longmeadow voters approved in 2016 makes that office the chief executive of the town, directly responsible to the Town Council for the administration of every town affair placed in its charge.
The powers are written down in Article 3, and they are broad. The Town Manager appoints, and may suspend or remove, all department heads, all members of boards, committees and commissions, and all employees, after every position has been advertised and interviews conducted. Four of those appointments carry a check: the Police Chief, the Fire Chief, the DPW Superintendent and the Town Clerk take effect unless a majority of the Council rejects the name by roll call within 45 days. The Manager prepares the annual budget with the department heads, updates the capital improvement program, and writes a long range plan for the town every five years. The Manager attends every Council meeting except the one reviewing the Manager’s own performance, and has a voice there but no vote.
The Council holds the other end. It appoints the Town Manager by a majority vote of the full Council, conducts an annual review whose summary is public, and can discipline, suspend or remove the Manager only by a supermajority. The charter also bars councilors from giving orders to any town employee the Council did not appoint, which is a deliberate design choice: it routes an individual councilor’s request through the Manager instead of around him. A resident’s problem therefore usually reaches a department first, and reaches the Council when it becomes a question of money or policy.
The Town Manager’s Office is in Town Hall at 60 Center Square, and its line is 413-525-5400 ext. 1100.
| Role | Town Manager, chief executive officer of the town |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by a majority vote of the full Town Council, not elected |
| Removal | By a supermajority vote of the Town Council |
| Office | Town Hall, 60 Center Square, East Longmeadow, MA 01028 |
| Phone | 413-525-5400 ext. 1100 |
| Deputy | Rebecca Lisi, Deputy Town Manager, ext. 1115 |
| Website | Town Manager, eastlongmeadowma.gov |
What the Town Manager Does
- Runs the departments. Police, fire, public works, health, recreation, the library and the rest report up to the Town Manager, who hires and supervises their leaders on merit and fitness.
- Builds the budget. The Manager sets the schedule and the procedures for the town’s budget, prepares it with the department heads, and defends it before the Council, which holds the final vote.
- Appoints the boards. Every board, committee and commission seat in town except the Council and the School Committee is filled by the Town Manager, and every vacancy has to be advertised in a local newspaper, on the town bulletin board and on the town website.
- Reorganises the government. Only the Manager may file a plan to create, merge or abolish a town agency. The Council may approve or disapprove it, and may not amend it.
- Reports in public. The Manager reports to the Council at least once a year on all operations, and that report is made available to the public.
How a Budget Becomes Real Money
A budget in East Longmeadow is built by the Town Manager, department by department, and proposed as one package to the Town Council. The Town Council holds hearings and votes. Since the charter replaced Open Town Meeting, the council hearing IS the public stage of the budget. If you want to change a number, that hearing is where the argument has to land.
The charter fixes the calendar. The Council President calls a joint meeting of the Council and the School Committee before the process starts, to look at the town’s finances together. The Manager gives both bodies a draft by April 1, meets the Superintendent to talk through the school budget, submits the proposed operating budget with a written message by May 1, and the Council adopts it with or without amendments by June 1. For the fiscal year that began in July 2025 the tax rate came out at $19.43 per thousand dollars of assessed value, up from $18.48, and $1.83 of that was the debt on the new high school and its pool.
Town Manager and Superintendent
East Longmeadow has two chief executives, and they answer to two different elected bodies. The Town Manager runs everything except the schools and is hired by the seven member Town Council. The Superintendent runs the schools and is hired by the five member School Committee. Two bosses, two budgets, and both of them chosen by people whose names are on a ballot you can mark.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 60 Center Square, East Longmeadow, MA 01028. Main line 413-525-5400.
- Town Manager’s Office: 413-525-5400 ext. 1100.
- Report a problem: the town publishes a Citizen Service Request form and a Complaint form through the Town Manager’s page, which is the fastest route for a pothole, a streetlight or a missed pickup.
- Show up: the Council meets in public, and the charter guarantees residents a reasonable opportunity to speak at any Council or subcommittee meeting.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.
MassCivics last checked this page on October 20, 2026.
Sources
- Town records: Town of East Longmeadow, Town Manager, as of October 2026.
- Charter and bylaws: Town of East Longmeadow, East Longmeadow Home Rule Charter, as of April 12, 2016.