Town Leadership
The Leicester Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
David A. Genereux
When a road goes unplowed, a water main breaks, or a department needs a new hire, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. David A. Genereux is Leicester’s Town Administrator, hired by the five elected members of the Select Board to run the town day to day, and the board can let him go if it loses confidence in him. He is the town’s chief administrative officer, which in an open town meeting town like Leicester is a specific and powerful job.
Start with the money, because that is where the office does its heaviest work. Every winter the Administrator pulls together the requests of every town department, tests them against the revenue the town actually expects, and builds a single balanced budget. That draft goes to the Select Board, and then the whole thing is carried to the floor of Town Meeting, where any registered voter who shows up can question it, amend it, and vote it up or down. The Administrator does not get to spend a dollar Town Meeting has not appropriated. What he controls is the plan that reaches the floor and the case made for it.
Between budgets, the office runs the machinery. The Administrator appoints and supervises most department heads, so the people who plow the roads, inspect the restaurants, and issue the permits answer up through him. He negotiates contracts, manages the town’s grants, and is usually the first person a problem lands on before it becomes a policy question for the board. He does not set policy himself. That is the split worth remembering in Leicester: the Select Board sets the direction and signs the warrant that decides what Town Meeting votes on, Town Meeting holds the power of the purse, and the Town Administrator carries out what both of them decide.
For a resident, that means the fastest way to move a routine problem, a pothole, a permit, a question about a town service, is often the Administrator’s office, while a question about direction or spending belongs in front of the Select Board or on a Town Meeting warrant. The office is appointed, but it works for people you elect, and it answers to a meeting any voter can walk into.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board under contract, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 3 Washburn Square, Leicester, MA 01524 |
| Phone | 508-892-7077 |
| Website | leicesterma.org |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Police, fire, public works, health, recreation, 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 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 Leicester 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 restaurants.
- The Select Board is the check: it hires and can fire the 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 licensing.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 3 Washburn Square, Leicester, MA 01524.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 508-892-7011.
- Report a problem: potholes, broken lights, and missed pickups go to the Department of Public Works.
- Show up: the Select Board meets on its published calendar 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.