Town Leadership
The Middlefield Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Evan Kenney
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. Evan Kenney is Middlefield’s Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board and appointed for a three-year term under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 41, Section 23A, and the board can end that appointment if it loses faith in the work. The administrator is the town’s chief administrative officer under the strategic direction of the Select Board: the office oversees the town departments, activities, and projects the board and Town Meeting place in its charge, assembles the annual budget, and carries the town’s spending requests to the Select Board and on to Town Meeting for the final vote. This is a part-time office, and Middlefield shares it fifty-fifty with the neighboring town of Washington, a common arrangement for two small hilltowns that each need professional administration but not a full-time salary. Much of the daily machinery of a small town, from a state grant application to a vendor contract, crosses this desk before it reaches the board. Because Middlefield hands that daily work to an appointed administrator rather than running everything through the three-member board alone, the plan to fix a problem usually starts here, then goes to the board, and then to the voters at Town Meeting who hold the money.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer), a part-time office shared with the town of Washington |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board for a three-year term under M.G.L. c.41 s.23A, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 188 Skyline Trail, PO Box 238, Middlefield, MA 01243 |
| Phone | 413-623-2079, ext. 2 |
| Website | middlefield-ma.gov |
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 Middlefield 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, some elected and some appointed by the Select Board, decide questions like zoning, conservation, and public health.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 188 Skyline Trail, PO Box 238, Middlefield, MA 01243.
- Town Administrator: 413-623-2079, ext. 2.
- Report a problem: potholes, downed limbs, and washed-out roads go to the Highway Department.
- Show up: the Select Board meets at 6:30 pm every other Wednesday at Town Hall, and the public is welcome.
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