Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Brooke Shulda
When a road goes unplowed, a well runs dry, or a state grant needs someone to manage it, the person with the most day-to-day control over the town’s response is appointed, not elected. Brooke Shulda is Rowe’s Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Board of Selectmen to run the town between meetings, and the board can let the administrator go if it loses confidence. The Town Administrator is the chief administrative officer: the office coordinates the departments, prepares and presents the annual budget, tracks the town’s grants and contracts, and carries the town’s biggest spending requests to Town Meeting for the final vote. Because a town this small has only a handful of full-time employees, the administrator is often the first point of contact between a resident and Town Hall. But the office holds no power of its own. It carries out the policy the elected Board of Selectmen sets, and every dollar it proposes still has to survive the vote of whoever shows up to Town Meeting.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Board of Selectmen under contract, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 321 Zoar Road, P.O. Box 462, Rowe, MA 01367 |
| Phone | (413) 339-5520 ext. 100 |
| townadmin@rowe-ma.gov | |
| Website | rowe-ma.gov |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Coordinates the departments. The Highway Department, Police, Fire, the Board of Health, the library, and the rest work with the Town Administrator on staffing, purchasing, and the town’s day-to-day business.
- Builds the budget. Each year the office prepares how the town will spend its money, working with the Finance Committee, then defends that plan before the Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Answers to the board. The Town Administrator serves at the pleasure of the elected Board of Selectmen and carries out the policies it sets.
- Reports to Town Meeting. Major spending and bylaws still need the vote of Town Meeting, and in Rowe that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department heads carry out policy, from plowing the roads to running the transfer station and staffing the Board of Health.
- The Board of Selectmen 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, many of them elected in Rowe rather than appointed, decide questions like zoning, conservation, and public health.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 321 Zoar Road, P.O. Box 462, Rowe, MA 01367.
- Town Administrator’s Office: (413) 339-5520 ext. 100, townadmin@rowe-ma.gov.
- Report a problem: washed-out roads, downed limbs, and plowing go to the Highway Department.
- Show up: the Board of Selectmen meets every other Thursday at 5:00 p.m. 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.