Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Danielle Fillio
When a road goes unplowed or a builder files plans for a new house on State Road, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Danielle Fillio is Richmond’s Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board to run the town day to day, and the board can end that contract if it loses faith in the work. The administrator is the town’s chief administrative officer. In a community of about 1,400 people there is no large bureaucracy to hide behind, so this one office ends up touching almost everything: the annual budget, the warrant articles headed to Town Meeting, grant applications, contracts, personnel, and the daily back-and-forth with the state agencies that fund and regulate a small town.
The budget is the heart of the job. Each winter the administrator works with the department heads and the Finance Committee to assemble a spending plan for the coming fiscal year, balancing what the schools, the roads, the police and fire services, and the town offices ask for against what Richmond can actually raise under Proposition 2 and one half, the state law that caps how fast the property-tax levy can grow. That plan does not become real until Town Meeting votes it. The administrator presents and defends it, but every registered voter in the room can question a line, move to amend it, and vote it up or down.
Between meetings the administrator carries out what the Select Board decides, supervises the town’s staff, and keeps the machinery running. The office is where a resident’s problem usually lands first: a complaint about a road, a question about a permit, a request to get an item onto a future agenda. Because Richmond hands the daily work to an appointed professional and reserves the big votes for its elected board and its open Town Meeting, knowing which of the three does what is the fastest way to get something fixed.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board under contract, not elected |
| Office | Richmond Town Hall, 1751 State Road, Richmond, MA 01254 |
| Phone | 413-553-7793 |
| Website | richmondma.org |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Police, fire, public works, health, the library, and the rest answer to the Town Administrator, who helps appoint and supervise their leaders.
- Builds the budget. Each year the administrator proposes how the town will spend its money for the town and the schools, 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 Richmond that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department heads carry out policy day to day, from plowing snow to inspecting a septic system.
- The Select Board is the check: it hires and can release 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: 1751 State Road, Richmond, MA 01254.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 413-553-7793, townadmin@richmondma.org.
- Report a problem: road, culvert, and plowing issues go to the Department of Public Works.
- Show up: the Select Board meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays 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.