Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Interim Town Administrator
Eugene Phillips, Interim Town Administrator
In August 2026, Hopedale handed its administrator’s office to a familiar face. Eugene Phillips became Interim Town Administrator on August 10, 2026, appointed by the three elected members of the Select Board. Few residents have run more of the town: he served eight years as Hopedale’s town coordinator before retiring in 2013, has been the Town Moderator since 2018, and has also served on the Select Board, the Finance Committee, the Board of Assessors, and as a water and sewer commissioner.
The office he now holds is where Hopedale’s daily machinery comes together. The Town Administrator manages the day to day operation of the Select Board office and serves as the administrative supervisor of the department heads the board appoints, which means the plan for fixing a road, running the ambulance service, or keeping the water flowing usually crosses this desk before it reaches anyone else. The same office carries a stack of specific legal duties: Chief Procurement Officer under the state’s Uniform Procurement Act, which governs how the town buys everything from plow blades to engineering studies; the town’s coordinator for the Americans with Disabilities Act; Town Safety Coordinator; and Municipal Hearing Officer.
What the Administrator does not do is decide the big questions. Hopedale’s division of powers runs the other way: the elected Select Board sets policy, appoints the department heads, and signs the warrants that put business in front of Town Meeting, and Town Meeting, where every registered voter is a member, holds the final vote on the budget and the bylaws. The Administrator’s job is to make sure the government those votes describe actually functions between meetings. That split matters to a resident with a problem: the fastest route for a service issue runs through this office and the departments, while a change to what the town does, rather than how it does it, belongs to the board and to the voters in the hall.
| Role | Interim Town Administrator |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 54 Hopedale Street (P.O. Box 7), Hopedale, MA 01747 |
| Phone | 508-634-2203 ext. 210 |
| Website | hopedale-ma.gov |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the Select Board office. The Administrator manages the board’s daily operations, so the questions residents bring to the town’s elected leadership land on this desk first.
- Supervises the departments. Highway, police, fire, health, and the rest are led by department heads the Select Board appoints, with the Administrator as their administrative supervisor.
- Buys what the town needs. As Chief Procurement Officer, the Administrator runs the bidding and contracting rules that state law sets for every public purchase.
- Reports to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in Hopedale that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department heads are appointed by the Select Board and carry out policy, from plowing snow to inspecting restaurants, with the Administrator coordinating their daily work.
- The Select Board is the check: it appoints and can replace the Administrator, sets policy, and signs the warrants that put questions before Town Meeting.
- Boards and commissions decide questions like zoning, conservation, and licensing, and their meetings are public.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 54 Hopedale Street (P.O. Box 7), Hopedale, MA 01747.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 508-634-2203 ext. 210.
- Report a problem: potholes and plowing go to the Highway Department at 508-473-4188.
- Show up: the Select Board meets the second and fourth Monday at 6:30 pm at Town Hall, and the public is welcome.
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