Town Leadership
The Plainville Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Brian S. Noble
When a road goes unplowed or a water main breaks, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Brian S. Noble is the Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board to run Plainville day to day, and they can let him go if they lose faith in him. He is the town’s chief administrative officer. Under the board’s policies he supervises the department heads who do the town’s work, from the Department of Public Works to the Building Department, and he keeps the daily machinery of a town of about ten thousand people running.
His single largest job is the budget. Each year the Town Administrator gathers requests from every department, weighs them against the money the town expects to raise, and assembles one spending plan for the whole town. That plan is not law when he finishes it. It goes first to the Select Board, which reviews and adjusts it, and then to the Finance Committee, which advises the voters. The final vote belongs to Town Meeting, where any registered resident in the hall can move to raise a line, cut it, or send it back. So the Administrator proposes, and the town disposes.
He also carries out what the board and Town Meeting decide. When the town votes to build, to hire, or to sign a contract, it is the Administrator’s office that manages the procurement, the schedule, and the paperwork. He negotiates the agreements the town depends on, including the intermunicipal water and sewer arrangements Plainville holds with North Attleborough. Because Plainville hands the daily work to an appointed professional rather than an elected mayor, the plan to fix a problem usually crosses his desk first, then goes to the board and to Town Meeting for the decision. Knowing that route is the difference between being heard once and being heard where the vote is taken.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board under contract, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 190 South Street, Plainville, MA 02762 |
| Phone | 508-695-3010 ext. 4 |
| Website | plainvillema.gov |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Police, fire, public works, health, and the rest answer up through the Town Administrator, who supervises the department heads.
- Builds the budget. Each year the Administrator proposes how the town will spend its money, 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 Plainville that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department heads carry out policy day to day, from plowing snow to inspecting a new restaurant.
- The Select Board is the check: it hires and can dismiss 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: 190 South Street, Plainville, MA 02762.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 508-695-3010 ext. 4.
- Report a problem: potholes, water, and sewer issues go to the Department of Public Works, 508-699-2071.
- Show up: the Select Board meets on Mondays 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.