Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Jennifer Peloquin
When a road goes unplowed or a culvert washes out on a hilltown back road, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Jennifer Peloquin is Huntington’s Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board to run the town day to day, and the board can let her go if it loses faith in her. She is the town’s chief administrative officer: she oversees the departments, helps assemble the annual budget, and carries the town’s spending requests to the Select Board and on to Town Meeting for the final vote. She is appointed by the Select Board and serves under its direction, out of the Selectboard office at Town Hall. Because Huntington hands the daily machinery to an appointed administrator rather than running everything through the board alone, the plan to fix a problem usually crosses her desk first, then goes to the board and to Town Meeting.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 24 Russell Road, PO Box 430, Huntington, MA 01050 |
| Phone | (413) 512-5200 |
| Website | huntingtonma.us |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Highway, police, fire, health, the library, and the rest coordinate through the Town Administrator’s office at Town Hall.
- Helps build the budget. Each year the town assembles a plan for how it will spend its money, department by department, and defends that plan before the Select Board and Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Answers to the board. The Town Administrator serves under 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 Huntington that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department heads carry out policy day to day, from plowing the hill roads to inspecting a septic system.
- The Select Board is the check: it hires and can dismiss 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 Hall: 24 Russell Road, PO Box 430, Huntington, MA 01050.
- Town Administrator / Selectboard office: (413) 512-5200.
- Report a problem: potholes, downed limbs, and washed-out roads go to the Highway Department.
- Show up: the Select Board meets on Wednesday evenings about twice a month at Town Hall, and the public is welcome.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.