Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Mark Ullucci
When a street goes unplowed or a water main breaks on County Street, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Mark Ullucci is the Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Board of Selectmen to run Somerset day to day, and they can let him go if they lose faith in him. He is the chief administrative officer: he oversees the departments, shapes and presents the annual budget, and carries the town’s biggest spending requests to Town Meeting for the final vote. He serves under contract. Because Somerset hands the daily machinery to an appointed administrator, the plan to fix a problem usually crosses his desk first, then goes to the board, and then to Town Meeting, where the money is actually voted.
That last handoff is the part worth understanding. The Town Administrator can propose. The Board of Selectmen can put a proposal on the warrant. Neither of them can appropriate a dollar. In Somerset only Town Meeting can do that, and Town Meeting is every registered voter who walks in. So the office you are reading about is powerful in exactly one direction: it decides what the town is asked to vote on, and how well the case is made. The vote itself belongs to the room.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Board of Selectmen under contract, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 140 Wood Street, Somerset, MA 02726 |
| Phone | 508-646-2800 |
| Website | townofsomerset.org |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Highway, water and sewer, building, assessing, the clerk’s office, the Council on Aging and the rest report up through the Town Administrator’s office.
- Builds the budget. Each year the office proposes how the town will spend its money, then defends that plan before the Board of Selectmen, the Advisory and Finance Committee, and Town Meeting, which holds the final vote.
- Answers to the board. The 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 Somerset that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department heads carry out policy, from plowing snow to inspecting buildings. Somerset’s Finance Director, Tammy Pacheco, and its Treasurer/Collector, Carla Mourao, are two of the appointed officials who keep the money side running.
- The Board of Selectmen is the check: it hires and can fire the Administrator, sets policy, and signs the warrants that put questions before Town Meeting.
- The Advisory and Finance Committee reviews the budget and reports its recommendations to Town Meeting before the vote.
- Boards and commissions, many of them appointed by the Board of Selectmen, decide questions like zoning, conservation, and licensing.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 140 Wood Street, Somerset, MA 02726.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 508-646-2800.
- Report a problem: potholes, snow and street work go to the Highway Department at 508-646-2835.
- Show up: the Board of Selectmen meets Thursday evenings at the Somerset Public Library, and the public is welcome.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.