Town Leadership
The Town Manager’s Office
The Town Manager
Alex Morse
When a road goes unplowed or a permit stalls, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Alex Morse is the Town Manager, hired by the five elected members of the Select Board, and he serves at their pleasure. The office is written into Provincetown’s own Home Rule Charter, which the town’s voters adopted in 1990. Under that charter the Select Board sets policy and appoints the Town Manager, and the Manager runs the town under it: he appoints most of the town’s department heads, directs and oversees every municipal department and employee, and hires all town employees except the secretary to the Select Board. With the board’s approval he can reorganize, combine, or close departments and positions. He builds the annual operating budget and the capital plan for the board to review, and he serves as the town’s Chief Procurement Officer, signing the contracts the town enters. So the plan to fix a problem usually starts here, then goes to the board, and then to the room where every registered voter can vote it down.
| Role | Town Manager (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board and serving at its pleasure, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 260 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA 02657 |
| Phone | 508-487-7002 |
| Website | provincetown-ma.gov |
What the Town Manager Does
- Appoints the department heads. The charter gives the Town Manager the appointment of most of the town’s department heads and their staff, and the direction and oversight of every municipal department and employee. This is the power a Town Administrator in most Massachusetts towns does not hold, and it is why the office is called Manager here.
- Builds the budget. Each year the Town Manager prepares the annual operating budget and the capital plan for the Select Board to review, and serves as the town’s Chief Procurement Officer, signing the contracts the town enters.
- Runs the departments. The Town Manager hires all town employees except the secretary to the Select Board, and with the board’s approval may reorganize, combine, or close departments and positions.
- Answers to the board, and to you. The Town Manager works under the Select Board’s policy direction and serves at its pleasure, and the daily work of the town runs through this office. If you are registered to vote, Town Meeting is where you can put a question about it on the record.
What the Charter Splits Between Them
Provincetown has been governed under a Select Board and Town Manager form since its voters adopted the revised Home Rule Charter in 1990. The charter divides the work three ways, and the division is worth knowing before you decide whom to write to.
- Town Meeting holds the legislative power outright, which means the budget and the bylaws. Nothing in the manager’s authority reaches that.
- The Select Board is the chief policy making board. It appoints the Town Manager, sets town policy, and signs the warrant that decides what Town Meeting gets to vote on.
- The Town Manager runs everything the charter gives the office: the departments and their heads, the budget, the purchasing, and the personnel and labor policies, and with the board’s approval may reorganize a department outright.
Here is that relationship in one visible act. After each annual town election the Select Board reorganizes and chooses its own officers, and it is the Town Manager who opens the floor for the nominations and steps back the moment a chair is seated. The manager runs the meeting until the board can run itself, and then works for it.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 260 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA 02657. Main line 508-487-7000.
- Town Manager’s Office: 508-487-7002.
- Report a problem: potholes, broken lights, water and snow go to the Department of Public Works at 508-487-7060.
- Show up: the Select Board meets on the second and fourth Monday evenings 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.