City Leadership
The Gardner Mayor’s Office
The Office
Gardner’s charter opens with a sentence that decides a great deal: there shall be a mayor, elected by and from the qualified voters of the city, who shall be the chief executive officer of the city. The term is two years, which is short. A Gardner mayor is never more than two years from having to explain the budget to the people who paid for it.
The office is strong where it counts. The Mayor appoints the heads of every city department and the members of the municipal boards, proposes the annual budget, and runs the departments that spend it. The Mayor also chairs the School Committee and votes on it. When the Council passes something the Mayor opposes, the Mayor can veto it, and the Council needs a two thirds vote of all its members to override.
What the Mayor cannot do is act alone. Almost every appointment is subject to confirmation by the City Council, and the Council elects the City Clerk, the City Treasurer, the City Auditor and the City Collector of Taxes itself, so the four officers who handle the city’s money and its records do not answer to the Mayor for their jobs. The Mayor can only remove a department head or a board member with the approval of a majority of the Council. And the veto has a hole in it that matters more than any other clause on this page: it does not reach the budget. Those limits are the reason a Gardner resident has two doors rather than one, the office that proposes and the body that votes.
The Current Mayor
Michael J. Nicholson
Michael J. Nicholson is Mayor of Gardner. He was returned to the office at the city election of November 4, 2025 with 2,412 votes to 1,379, on a ballot that also filled every seat on the City Council and three seats on the School Committee.
He also holds a seat most residents would not think to look for. Gardner’s charter makes the Mayor the chairperson of the School Committee, and the seat votes: the committee’s own minutes of May 11, 2026 record the budget roll call ending with the Mayor voting yes and a count of seven. So the same person who proposes the school budget also chairs the body that approves it before it reaches the Council.
| Term | Two years, from the first Monday in January following the election |
|---|---|
| Office | City Hall, 95 Pleasant Street, Gardner, MA 01440 |
| Phone | 978-630-1490 |
| Website | gardner-ma.gov |
What the Charter Actually Gives the Office
- Appoints, with the Council’s consent. Every department head and every member of a municipal board is appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council. The one named exception is the law department, appointed without confirmation.
- Swears to the appointment in writing. Gardner asks something of its mayor that most cities do not. For every appointment the Mayor must file a signed certificate with the City Clerk stating that the appointee is a recognized expert, or is specially fitted by education, training or experience, and that the appointment is made solely in the interest of the city.
- Removes only with the Council. A department head or board member can be removed only with the approval of a majority of the Council, and the person removed is entitled to the reasons in writing and to a hearing with counsel.
- Vetoes, but not the budget. Every order, ordinance, resolution and vote of the Council goes to the Mayor. A disapproved measure comes back with the objections in writing, and the Council can override by a two thirds vote of all its members, taken no sooner than seven days after the return. Budgets and appropriations under the state finance law are exempt from the whole section.
- Does not control the money officers. The City Council elects the City Clerk, City Treasurer, City Auditor and City Collector of Taxes to three year terms, and can remove them by a two thirds vote.
How a Budget Actually Passes
A budget in Gardner starts in the Mayor’s office, built department by department, and it is proposed as one package. The Gardner City Council then holds hearings on it and votes. Those hearings are the point in the year when a resident’s argument reaches the people who hold the vote, and they are public. If you want to change a number in the city budget, that is the room and that is the month.
The budget is also the one thing the Mayor cannot force through. Because the charter exempts budgets and appropriations from the veto, the Council’s vote on spending is the last word rather than the first move in a negotiation. That makes a budget hearing the single most useful meeting in the Gardner year for anyone who wants a number changed.
The Council is the other half of every decision the Mayor proposes.