Town Leadership
The Goshen Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator’s Office
Assistant Town Administrator Trishna Amirault
When a road washes out or a permit needs a decision, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Goshen keeps a professional Town Administrator office, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board to run the town day to day, and the board can let the administrator go if it loses faith in the office. The Town Administrator is the town’s chief administrative officer: the role appoints and supervises department staff, shapes and presents the annual budget, and carries the town’s biggest spending requests to Town Meeting for the final vote. The administrator is appointed by the Select Board and serves under contract.
The Town Administrator seat is vacant right now. Assistant Town Administrator Trishna Amirault handles the daily business of the office, with Jennifer Bernardi serving as a temporary part-time Assistant Town Administrator, and the Select Board leads the search to fill the seat. Because Goshen hands the daily machinery to this office, the plan to fix a problem usually crosses that desk first, then goes to the board and to Town Meeting.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Status | Seat vacant; Assistant Town Administrator Trishna Amirault runs day-to-day business |
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board under contract, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 40 Main Street, Goshen, MA 01032 |
| Phone | 413-268-8236 x101 |
| TownAdmin@goshen-ma.us | |
| Website | goshen-ma.us |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. The highway crew, the clerk, health, the library, and the rest answer to the Town Administrator’s office, which oversees the town’s daily operations.
- Builds the budget. Each year the office proposes how the town will spend its money for the town and the schools, then defends that plan before the Select Board and Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Answers to the board. The administrator serves at the pleasure of 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 Goshen that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department staff carry out policy day to day, from clearing snow off the hilltown roads to keeping the town’s records and running the library.
- The Select Board is the check: it hires and can remove 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 public health.
Contact & Engage
- Town offices: 40 Main Street, Goshen, MA 01032.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 413-268-8236 x101, TownAdmin@goshen-ma.us.
- Report a problem: washed-out roads and plowing go to the Highway Department at 413-268-7062.
- Show up: the Select Board meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at 40 Main Street, and the public is welcome.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.