Town Leadership
The Town Manager’s Office
The Town Manager
Colin Loiselle
When a road goes unplowed or a permit stalls, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Colin Loiselle is the Town Manager of Tyngsborough, hired by the five elected members of the Select Board, and the office he holds is only four years old. Until 2022 this town had a Town Administrator. Then the Legislature passed Chapter 342 of the Acts of 2022, filed by the town’s own representative and senator by vote of the town, and section 9 of that act turned the sitting administrator into the first Town Manager.
The difference is not the word. It is who does the hiring. Section 3(A) of the act gives the Town Manager the appointment of the assistant town manager, the department heads, and every officer and employee for whom the act provides no other method, with two carve-outs written in: anyone under the School Committee and anyone under the Board of Library Trustees. Section 3(A)(i) then adds a step worth knowing about, because it is where the elected board gets its say. Every department head appointment the manager makes is filed in writing with the Select Board and posted on the town bulletin board and the town website, and it takes effect on the fifteenth day after that filing unless the board votes it down inside the window by a majority of the full board. Silence is consent. A vote is a veto.
Two chairs get special treatment. Section 3(A)(ii) says that before the manager fills a vacancy in the office of fire chief or police chief he must first consult the Select Board about the criteria and the process. And section 3(A)(iii) keeps a whole list out of his hands entirely: town counsel, the town accountant, the Board of Registrars, the Zoning Board of Appeals, certain Community Preservation Committee seats, the Conservation Commission, the Historical Commission, the Cultural Council, the Recreation Commission and the Council on Aging are all the Select Board’s to appoint.
The money runs through this office too. Section 3(G) puts the annual operating budget and the material for a five year capital improvement plan on the manager’s desk to build. Section 3(J) makes him the town’s chief procurement officer under state law, and requires him to hold a Massachusetts certified public purchasing official credential. Section 3(K) has him sign the warrants that actually pay the town’s bills. And section 3(N) is the clause that puts him in front of you: the Town Manager attends all sessions of all town meetings, and when the Moderator authorises it, answers the questions voters ask about the warrant articles. So the plan to fix a problem usually starts at this desk, goes to the board, and ends in the room where every registered voter can vote it down.
| Role | Town Manager (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by majority vote of the full Select Board for a term of not more than three years, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 25 Bryant Lane, Tyngsborough, MA 01879 |
| Phone | 978-649-2300 ext. 100 |
| Website | tyngsboroughma.gov |
What the Town Manager Does
- Appoints the department heads. Section 3(A) of the 2022 act gives the Town Manager the appointment of the department heads, the assistant town manager and the town’s other officers and employees, except those under the School Committee and the Board of Library Trustees. Each appointment is filed with the Select Board in writing and posted publicly, and it stands on the fifteenth day unless the board votes it down.
- Consults before the chiefs. When the office of fire chief or police chief falls vacant, section 3(A)(ii) requires the manager to talk to the Select Board about the criteria and the process before he uses that appointing power at all.
- Builds the budget. Section 3(G) has the manager prepare and present the annual operating budget and develop the material for a five year capital improvement plan. Section 3(K) has him execute the warrants that pay the bills and the payroll, and report each one to the board at its next meeting.
- Buys what the town buys. Section 3(J) makes him chief procurement officer under Chapter 30B of the General Laws, responsible for purchasing every supply and service the town uses and for awarding and signing the contracts.
- Answers to the board. Section 3 makes the manager directly responsible to the Select Board. Section 3(C) puts him at every regular and special board meeting with a voice and no vote. Section 2 requires an annual written review of his performance, and that summary is a public record.
- Answers to you, at Town Meeting. Section 3(N) requires the Town Manager to attend all sessions of all town meetings and, when the Moderator authorises it, to answer questions voters raise about the warrant articles. If you are registered, you can be the one asking.
What the Act Splits Between Them
Tyngsborough has no town charter. What most towns get from a charter, this town gets from a special act of the Legislature, Chapter 342 of the Acts of 2022, and the act divides the work 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 Select Board is the town’s chief municipal authority. It appoints the Town Manager and sets his pay each year within what Town Meeting appropriates, it keeps the appointment of town counsel, the town accountant and eight named boards under section 3(A)(iii), it can reject any department head appointment inside the fifteen day window, and it signs the warrant that decides what Town Meeting gets to vote on.
- The Town Manager runs what the act gives him: the departments and their heads, the operating budget, the purchasing, the personnel system and the labor contracts, the town’s buildings, and, with the board’s approval under section 3(O), the power to reorganize, consolidate or abolish a department outright.
The act is also specific about what happens when the office is empty. Under section 5 the Select Board appoints a qualified person to act, and that acting appointment runs three months, renewable twice and no further. Under section 8 a vacancy normally goes to a screening committee of five or seven people who live or work in Tyngsborough, with no more than two board members on it, which interviews candidates and returns at least three names to the board. Removal under section 7 takes no fewer than four of the five members, for cause, after a hearing.
Contact & Engage
- Town Hall: 25 Bryant Lane, Tyngsborough, MA 01879. Open Monday through Thursday 8:30 to 4 and Friday 8:30 to 12:30.
- Town Manager’s Office: 978-649-2300 ext. 100. Sean Walsh is the Assistant Town Manager.
- Report a problem: potholes, water, snow and street work go to the Department of Public Works at 978-649-2300 ext. 158, and the Highway Department directly at 978-649-2310.
- Show up: the Select Board meets at 6:00 p.m. every other Monday in the Community Room at Town Hall, and the public is welcome.
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