Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Ronald Aponte
When a road goes unplowed or a permit stalls, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Ronald Aponte is the Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Selectboard to run the town day to day, and they can let him go if they lose faith in him. He is the chief administrative officer of a small town that does a great deal of its own business by direct vote, and that shapes what the job actually is. He appoints and supervises most department heads, from the Highway Superintendent to the Council on Aging Director. He assembles the annual budget out of every department’s requests and the schools’ assessment, then defends that plan first before the Selectboard and then before Town Meeting, where the final vote belongs to whoever is in the room. He signs contracts, manages the town’s grants and its waste-management service, and is the office most residents actually reach when something goes wrong. What he does not do is set policy on his own. The Selectboard sets the direction and controls the warrant that decides what Town Meeting even gets to consider, and Town Meeting holds the money. So the honest way to picture the office is as the hinge between the two: the plan to fix a problem usually crosses the Town Administrator’s desk first, gets shaped into something the board will put on a warrant, and then lives or dies on a show of hands. Granby has leaned harder on this office as its government has grown more complex, which is part of why the town is consolidating its scattered departments into one building. The more the daily machinery runs through a single administrator, the more it matters that residents know who he answers to, and the answer is the three people you elect.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Selectboard under contract, not elected |
| Office | Granby town offices, 10-B West State Street, Granby, MA 01033 |
| Phone | 413-467-7177 |
| Website | granby-ma.gov |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. The Highway Department, Police, Fire, Health, the Council on Aging, and the rest answer to the Town Administrator, who appoints most of their leaders.
- Builds the budget. Each year the Administrator proposes how the town will spend its money for the town and the schools, then defends that plan before the Selectboard and Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Answers to the board. The Administrator serves at the pleasure of the elected Selectboard and carries out the policies it sets.
- Reports to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in Granby 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 a new kitchen.
- The Selectboard is the check: it hires and can release the Administrator, sets policy, and signs the warrants that put questions before Town Meeting.
- Boards and commissions, many of them appointed by the Selectboard, decide questions like zoning, conservation, and licensing.
Contact & Engage
- Town offices: 10-B West State Street, Granby, MA 01033.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 413-467-7177.
- Report a problem: potholes, broken lights, and plowing go to the Highway Department.
- Show up: the Selectboard meets on its published calendar at the town offices, and the public is welcome.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.