Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Marc Strange
The most consequential appointed official in Ludlow works on the third floor of Town Hall. Marc Strange is the Town Administrator, hired by the five elected members of the Select Board to run the town day to day, and answerable to them for how it goes. The split is deliberate. The board is elected to decide WHAT the town should do; the Administrator is hired to work out HOW, and the two jobs check each other. He supervises the departments residents actually call, from Public Works to the Building Department, coordinates the town’s professional staff, and assembles the annual budget that the Select Board shapes and the representative Town Meeting votes line by line each May.
Watch one decision travel and the office comes into focus. When the state required Ludlow to update its Housing Production Plan, the work landed with the administration and its consultant, who brought the finished plan to the Select Board on April 7, 2026. The board voted to approve it and send it to the state. Nothing about that sequence is unusual, and that is the point: plans, contracts, and spending requests are prepared by the administration, decided by the board, and, when they involve real money or bylaws, settled by Town Meeting. The Administrator sits at the first stop on that conveyor, which is why the job matters even though nobody votes for it.
The office also runs the machinery a resident touches without thinking about it. The Assistant Town Administrator doubles as the Human Resources Director, the Select Board’s agendas flow through this office, and when you email selectboard@ludlow.ma.us, the staff here are the ones who route it. For a student, the practical lesson is this: if your issue is about how something is run, a schedule, a repair, a service, this office can often fix it directly. If your issue is about what the town should do differently, the Administrator can tell you exactly which board the decision belongs to, and when it meets.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board under contract, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 488 Chapin Street, 3rd Floor, Ludlow, MA 01056 |
| Phone | (413) 583-5600 ext. 1201 |
| Website | ludlow.ma.us |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Public works, health, building, planning, and the rest of the town’s operations answer to the Town Administrator’s office.
- Builds the budget. Each year the administration assembles the town’s spending plan, the Select Board sets fiscal guidelines and makes recommendations, and Town Meeting 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 the representative Town Meeting members elected from your precinct.
The Administration
- Department heads carry out policy day to day, from plowing snow to inspecting restaurants.
- The Select Board is the check: it hires and can replace 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 planning, conservation, and licensing.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 488 Chapin Street, Ludlow, MA 01056.
- Town Administrator’s Office: (413) 583-5600 ext. 1201, selectboard@ludlow.ma.us.
- Report a problem: potholes, plowing, and missed pickups go to Public Works at 198 Sportsmen’s Road.
- Show up: the Select Board meets the first and third Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. 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.