Town Leadership
The Town Administrator’s Office
The Town Administrator
Madeline Scully
When a dirt road washes out or a grant deadline lands on a winter afternoon, the person with the most operational control over the response is appointed, not elected. Madeline Scully is the Town Administrator, hired by the three elected members of the Select Board to run Windsor day to day, and they can let her go if they lose faith in her. She is the town’s chief administrative officer and acts as its chief procurement officer. She coordinates the daily operation of the town as the Select Board delegates it, helps shape and present the annual budget, purchases the services and equipment the town runs on, and carries the town’s biggest spending requests to Town Meeting for the final vote. She serves under a contract with the Select Board rather than a fixed elected term. Because Windsor hands the daily machinery to an appointed administrator, the plan to fix a problem usually crosses her desk first, then goes to the board, and then to Town Meeting, where the registered voters have the last word. That last step is the one worth remembering: the Town Administrator can propose, and the Select Board can put an item on the warrant, but in an open Town Meeting town the budget is not real until the people in the room vote it. The office exists to make the machinery run well enough that the vote is about choices, not emergencies.
| Role | Town Administrator (chief administrative officer) |
|---|---|
| Selection | Appointed by the Select Board under contract, not elected |
| Office | Town Offices, 1890 Route 9, Suite 1, Windsor, MA 01270 |
| Phone | 413-684-3811 |
| Website | windsormass.com |
What the Town Administrator Does
- Coordinates the town. The daily operation of Windsor, from procurement to the departments the Select Board oversees, is coordinated through the Town Administrator.
- Builds the budget. Each year the Town Administrator helps shape 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 Town 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 Windsor that means every registered voter who walks in.
The Administration
- Department heads and staff carry out policy, from plowing the dirt roads to inspecting septic systems.
- The Select Board is the check: it hires and can replace the Town 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 public health.
Contact & Engage
- Town Offices: 1890 Route 9, Windsor, MA 01270.
- Town Administrator’s Office: 413-684-3811, mscully@windsormass.com.
- Report a problem: road and drainage problems go to the Highway Department, 413-684-3780.
- Show up: the Select Board meets Monday evenings at the Town Offices, and the public is welcome.
Want to weigh in on a town decision? Learn how to contact your officials so they actually hear you.