Town Leadership
The Select Board’s Office
The Board That Runs the Town
Alice Houghtaling, Chair
When a road goes unplowed or a question comes up about the schools, the people who answer for it in Monroe are the three residents you elect to the Select Board. In a town this small there is no appointed town administrator or manager: the board itself is the town’s chief executive. Alice Houghtaling chairs it, and she serves alongside Carla Davis and David Gagne. Together they set policy, approve the bills the town pays, make the appointments to town offices, and carry the town’s business forward between one Town Meeting and the next, working out of the Select Board’s office at Town Hall. The chair runs the meetings and signs on the board’s behalf, but the decisions are the board’s, and the board’s alone. Because Monroe hands its daily work to no one, the quickest way to move a town problem is to bring it to these three people directly.
| Role | The elected Select Board serves as the town’s chief executive |
|---|---|
| Members | Alice Houghtaling (Chair), Carla Davis, David Gagne |
| Selection | Elected town-wide to staggered three-year terms |
| Office | Monroe Town Hall, 3 School Street, Monroe, MA 01350 |
| Phone | 413-424-5272 |
What the Board Does
- Sets policy and makes appointments. The board decides town policy and fills the appointed town offices, from the boards that handle land and health to the officials who keep the town running.
- Approves the bills and shapes the budget. The board approves what the town pays out and puts the year’s spending plan before Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Controls the warrant. The board signs the warrant that decides what business reaches Town Meeting, so it sets the agenda for the town’s biggest decisions.
- Answers to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in Monroe that means every registered voter who walks in.
Where the Power Is Checked
- Town Meeting is the check on the board. The board can propose, but the money and the bylaws are voted by the residents in the hall.
- The ballot is the other check. All three seats are elected town-wide, so every member answers to the whole town at the next annual election.
- Boards and commissions, many of them appointed by the Select Board, decide questions like planning and public health, and their meetings are open to residents.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 3 School Street, Monroe, MA 01350.
- Select Board’s Office: 413-424-5272.
- Show up: the Select Board meets at Town Hall and the public is welcome. Call for the date and agenda of the next meeting.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.