For cities and towns
Municipal Consulting
Ashland, 2013 to 2026
What the work produced
Finances
- S&P AAA, raised from AA to AA+ to AAA between 2013 and 2016, and affirmed again in 2026
- $12.1 million unassigned fund balance, up from $1.27 million, and stabilization reserves grown from $1.34 million to $8.6 million (FY2011 to FY2024, audited)
- $8 million+ saved in a trust for retiree health insurance (OPEB) that started at zero
- 14 clean audits in a row, and older debt cut by 46%
- 2nd-lowest per-capita spending in the region in 2013, and held through 2026 despite major debt exclusions and an operational override
Grants and capital projects
- $30 million+ in competitive grants and outside funding
- $200 million+ in capital projects, including a $15 million downtown renovation and $1.5 million in Riverwalk and park construction
- $32 million public safety building and $90 million elementary school (MSBA), two large debt exclusions that generally compete with each other, on one ballot. Each passed with about 90% of the vote
- About 90 acres bought for $4.8 million on a two-thirds Town Meeting vote, which led to a 12.54-acre land donation for a regional YMCA
- $402,000 in business incentive grants and loans to 26 businesses, which brought in $4.5 million in private investment
- Two historic barns renovated or rebuilt as replicas, and two historic homes renovated
- 300+ acres of open space protected, using a variety of funding sources and unique deed restriction instruments
- $75,000 a year in perpetuity from recorded covenants on two developments, and $1.6 million in payments from one of them, where standard permit fees added up to $1.2 million
Staff and communication
- Four new departments: Human Services, Economic Development, Human Resources and Communications, plus a combined school and town IT department
- 6,000 subscribers to a weekly Town Manager newsletter, at a 60% open rate
Awards
- 250 Public Service Leaders in America, National Academy of Public Administration
- 40 Under 40, Worcester Business Journal
- Two Voice of the People Awards, Polco and ICMA
- MassSave Climate Leader, one of 14 communities statewide, 2024
- GFOA budget award, earned five times by the finance team
- Top spot to live west of Boston in its price range, Boston Globe Magazine, 2026
I help cities and towns, and the people who lead them, with a variety of their needs. Call 617-304-5487 or use the contact form to connect.
In between all of the meetings, the operational decisions you have to balance, and the financial constraints you need to work within - municipal work is a chance to build and create. That means the physical things that reflect a town's values and vision, and also the sense of community that ties us all together.
Vision is one of the tools leaders have that I help them use. The ability to see things with foresight, and to paint a picture for residents and boards of how things could be and that they don't have to stay the way they are.
The challenges in municipal work are the technical and funding limitations every community faces, and the disparate interests that turn projects, and the people who support them, into competitors.
Alignment is the other tool. I help leaders find the common thread that sews those disparate interests together, and design warrant articles and votes that convert competition to cooperation, even with limited funding.
Building a team where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts was something I relished in Ashland. I now help managers do the same, starting with seeing beyond the resume and interview.
These are the main tools I used and developed doing this work in Ashland for 13 years, first as Assistant Town Manager and Finance Director and then as Town Manager, with a team that made it possible. Through C5, I bring that experience to town managers, boards and finance teams in other communities.
Case studies
How the work got done
The Rail Transit District
A 200-acre district zoned for 1,000 housing units was reimagined as a regional YMCA campus, 100 acres of open space and trails, and senior affordable housing. That vision came from the Town Manager learning the community's history and what residents wanted for its future.
Read the case study →
The Small Tax and the Long Game
Ashland adopted the local option meals tax under a unique construct that leveraged $25 million in state funding for a long-desired corridor revitalization project. Subsequently, two home rule petitions created a one-of-a-kind business incentive program to fill vacant and dilapidated storefronts with revitalized businesses.
Case study coming soon
From AA to AAA
The policies, the plan, and the preparation for the rating agency that took the town from AA to AAA in three years. Right in time for an ambitious capital investment plan.
Case study coming soon
The Fighter Pilot and His Wingman
How two men, complete opposites with a total of three years of municipal experience between them, began to turn a town around, told through the financial policy they developed that is still being used 13 years later.
Case study coming soonWhat I offer
Where I can help
Most of this work can be offered as part of the team of experts at Capital Strategic Solutions.
Financial policy and rating strategy
I help towns put financial policies in place that pay for what the community wants, with enough support from staff and boards that the policies hold when people change. That includes policies for reserves, free cash and retiree health insurance (OPEB), getting ready for calls with the rating agency, timing new debt so the budget can carry it, and stopping the use of one-time money to pay for ongoing costs.
This is the work that took Ashland from AA to AAA. It's rarely about math; it's more about relationships and knowing what is important to everyone who can influence the math.
Case study: From AA to AAA (coming soon)Grants and outside funding
Most towns are eligible for the same state and federal grants. The difference is how often they apply and how often they win. Ashland brought in more than $30 million because the team made a habit of asking, why not us?
I help towns get the state designations and plans that make them eligible for the bigger competitive grants, keep a calendar of what is coming due, and build working relationships with the agencies that award the money.
Case study: The Small Tax and the Long Game (coming soon)Development agreements and land deals
When a developer needs something only the town can give, like a permit, a zoning change or a public road, the town can negotiate benefits for residents that last. State pressure to build housing, and the market behind it, give towns more bargaining power than they often realize. You just need to know what you're up against and how to ask for it.
I help towns decide what to ask for, estimate the fees and costs on both sides, record covenants so they bind every future owner, and put together multi-party land deals where the town owning a piece of the ground changes the tone and tenor of the conversation with developers and the community.
Case study: The Rail Transit District →Putting plans into action, and benchmarking
I help turn a master plan or strategic plan into work plans for each department, budget priorities, and a simple way to track what actually got done.
If you believe your organization does more with less, measurement is your friend. I design efficiency studies that compare a town with similar communities, set up so they can show where the town is behind as well as where it is ahead.
Organization design and executive transitions
The difference between success and failure is often tied to the people you surround yourself with. I help towns create new departments, combine functions, and hire. The solutions rarely lie in the resume or the answers to the questions asked in the interview. I have had more successes than failures in this area myself...and have learned hard lessons from both.
When a manager is leaving or arriving, I help with a 90-day transition plan, succession plans for department heads, and an orientation for the board.
Public engagement and narrative
Most town halls are too busy doing the work to tell residents what they are doing. I help municipal leaders build a narrative that carries votes, and learn how to use various channels to convey the message accurately and persuasively to the right people. Ashland's weekly Town Manager newsletter reached 6,000 subscribers with a 60% open rate.
Developing your people
Department heads and assistant managers carry a lot of the same pressure as the manager. One-on-one executive coaching, and a small-group leadership program for senior municipal managers, are part of my offerings.
Executive coaching →