Town Leadership
The Salisbury Town Manager’s Office
The Town Manager
Neil J. Harrington
When a road goes unplowed or a permit stalls, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Neil J. Harrington is Salisbury’s Town Manager, hired by the five elected members of the Board of Selectmen, and the office serves at the board’s pleasure. Salisbury governs under a Town Manager special act rather than the Town Administrator form most Massachusetts towns use, and the difference is real. The town’s own description of the office is blunt about how much it holds: the Town Manager is the chief administrative officer of the town, and the job runs the overall fiscal management of the town, the development of the annual budget, the appointment of all department heads and other employees, personnel administration, the use and maintenance of all town property except the schools, purchasing, the negotiation of the town’s collective bargaining agreements, and grant writing. The same office appoints the members of the Board of Health, the Conservation Commission, and the Zoning Board of Appeals. That is why almost every name on the Departments page was hired here and appears on no ballot, and why the Board of Selectmen holds one appointed manager responsible for all of them. So the plan to fix a problem usually starts on this desk, then goes to the board that sets the policy, and then, when it costs money, to the Town Meeting hall where every registered voter in Salisbury can vote it up or down.
| Role | Town Manager (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Board of Selectmen and serving at its pleasure, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 5 Beach Road, Salisbury, MA 01952 |
| Phone | 978-462-8232, ext. 101 |
| Website | salisburyma.gov |
What the Town Manager Does
- Appoints the department heads. By the town’s own account of the office, the Town Manager appoints all department heads and other employees. This is the power a Town Administrator in most Massachusetts towns does not hold, and it is why the office is called Manager here. It is also why the names on the Departments page appear on no ballot.
- Builds the budget and runs the money. The Town Manager develops the annual budget, carries the overall fiscal management of the town, handles purchasing, negotiates the town’s collective bargaining agreements, and writes the grants the town applies for.
- Manages the property and staffs key boards. The office maintains the use of all town property except the schools, and it appoints the members of the Board of Health, the Conservation Commission, and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
- Answers to the board. The Town Manager is the agent of the elected Board of Selectmen, works under its policy direction, and serves at its pleasure. The board can end the appointment; the voters cannot, which is exactly why the board it hires is the one to write to.
How the Government Splits Three Ways
Salisbury has been governed under a Board of Selectmen and Town Manager form for years, and the work divides three ways. 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 Board of Selectmen is the town’s chief policy making board. It appoints the Town Manager, sets the town’s direction between meetings, and signs the warrant that decides what Town Meeting gets to vote on.
- The Town Manager runs everything the town assigns to the office: the departments and their heads, the budget, the purchasing, the personnel policies and the labor contracts, and the appointment of the Board of Health, the Conservation Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Here is that relationship in one visible act. Salisbury’s Board of Selectmen reorganizes each year after the May town election, choosing its own Chair, Vice Chair and Clerk. On June 22, 2026, the very first item on the board’s agenda, right after the salute to the flag, was the Re-Organization of the Board. The Town Manager works for whichever board those votes produce.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 5 Beach Road, Salisbury, MA 01952.
- Town Manager’s Office: 978-462-8232, ext. 101.
- Report a problem: potholes, water and snow go to the Department of Public Works at 39 Lafayette Road, 978-462-8232.
- Show up: the Board of Selectmen meets on the second and fourth Monday 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.