Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Michael Ward
When a road goes unplowed after a storm, or a water main breaks, or the town has to decide what it can afford next year, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Michael Ward is the Town Administrator of West Boylston, hired by the five elected members of the Select Board to run the town day to day. He serves under a contract with the board, which means the board can end that contract if it loses confidence in him, and that is the leash that keeps an unelected manager answerable to people you do choose.
The office is the hinge between the two halves of West Boylston’s government. On one side is the Select Board, which sets policy and decides what questions reach Town Meeting; on the other are the departments that actually plow the roads, inspect the restaurants, and keep the water running. The Town Administrator translates the board’s policy into the departments’ work. He appoints and supervises most department heads, so the police, fire, public works, and the rest report up through him. He builds the annual budget, weighing every request against what the town can raise, and then he defends that budget in public: first to the Select Board, and then to Town Meeting, where any registered voter in the room can question it and vote on it.
That last step is where an appointed administrator meets direct democracy. The Town Administrator cannot pass the budget. He can only propose it. In West Boylston the final word on the money and the bylaws belongs to Town Meeting, so the plan to fix a problem usually crosses the administrator’s desk first, then the board’s, and then the floor of a meeting you are allowed to attend. Knowing that path is the difference between a complaint and a change: bring an operational problem to the administrator’s office, bring a policy question to the board, and bring a spending question to Town Meeting.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board under contract, not elected |
| Office | Town Hall, 140 Worcester Street, West Boylston, MA 01583 |
| Phone | 774-261-4012 |
| Website | westboylston-ma.gov |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Runs the departments. Police, fire, public works, health, and the rest answer to the Town Administrator, who appoints most of their leaders.
- Builds the budget. Each year the Administrator proposes how the town will spend its money, 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 West Boylston that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department heads are appointed by the Town Administrator and carry out policy, from plowing snow to inspecting restaurants.
- The Select Board is the check: it hires and can fire 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: 140 Worcester Street, West Boylston, MA 01583.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 774-261-4012.
- Report a problem: potholes, broken lights, and missed pickups go to the Department of Public Works.
- Show up: the Select Board meets on its published calendar 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.