Town Administration works with the Town Council together to improve the quality of life of the residents we serve. We are diligent in balancing the budget, keeping an eye on the Town's future needs and maintaining its assets.
Personnel
The Town Administration offices consist of four full time staff members and one part time staff member; Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator, Amy Frigulietti, Deputy Town Administrator, Mark Cerel, part time Town Attorney, Julie McCann, Operations Assistant to the Town Administrator, and Lily Rivera, Marketing and Communications Specialist (dual position, servicing both the school and municipal departments). For four months in early 2023, Julie Jacobson also joined our staff as Special Assistant to the Town Administrator.
Town Administrator Jamie Hellen is responsible for the management of all municipal departments and employees, under the jurisdiction of the Town Council. He, along with the administrative staff, develops all Town Council Agendas and ensures that all necessary legislation is being voted on in a timely manner. The Town Administrator, along with the Human Resources Director, works on union negotiations with all municipal bargaining units. The Town Administrator also works closely with the Town's local legislative delegation, congressmen, senators and representatives to lobby and advocate for any legislation and earmarks that would benefit the Town of Franklin and its residents.
Julie Jacobson, Special Assistant to the Town Administrator, was brought on board after having recently retired from 12 years as Town Manager in Auburn, MA, and more than 30 years' experience in municipal government. She brought tremendous knowledge to her temporary position in Franklin, and in a short time spearheaded several projects with a primary focus on economic development. The Town Administration offices were extremely fortunate to benefit from her expertise while waiting for the position of Deputy Town Administrator to be filled.
Amy Frigulietti joined our team as Deputy Town Administrator in July of 2023. Amy has 20 years of experience in administrative and professional management and brings expertise in economic development, public policy and community outreach in the public sector. In addition to familiarizing herself with the community, Amy's work will include business development, cultural and historical resources development, college relations, shared streets initiatives, communications and public relations planning, and social services coordination.
Julie McCann was promoted to Operations Assistant to the Town Administrator in February of 2023. In her new role Julie is responsible for various projects including but not limited to Town Council meeting agendas, licensing and permitting, management of boards & committees and assisting with the Town Administrator's Budget Message and the Annual Report. She is also becoming involved with Town insurance related matters and the Safety Committee, working with Human Resources Director Karen Bratt in ensuring that Town staff takes advantage of training opportunities to lower insurance costs for the Town while maximizing proficiency of Town staff across a broad spectrum of safety related matters.
Our Town Attorney, Mark Cerel has worked tirelessly over the past fiscal year to provide sound legal advice to the Town Administrator and staff. He drafts many bylaws and resolutions brought to the Town Council for approval and has played a major role in educating and advising all staff involved in the Chapter 61A right of first refusal process.
Accomplishments in FY23 include:
Budget: An FY24 balanced operating budget was submitted to the Town Council and unanimously approved. We continue to update our Town Budget webpage with helpful resources such as how the budget process works, operating and capital budgets, financial audits, and fiscal forecasts. More information can be found here: https://www.franklinma.gov/town-budget
Municipal Aggregation: The Franklin Community Choice Power Supply Program that started in 2020 has saved Franklin residents and businesses an estimated 11.5 million dollars in electricity costs throughout the Town's 3-year contract with Colonial Power Group and Dynegy Energy Services. As our current contract is approaching termination in November of 2023, Town Administration has secured a new 24-month contract to continue to manage and supply its electricity program for Franklin residents and businesses beginning in November of 2023 through November of 2025.
Online Permitting: As part of our customer service expansion initiatives, we continue to expand and improve our Viewpoint Online Permitting System. There are applications for various permits and other services from a variety of departments including the Town Administrator's Office, the Health Department, the Senior Center, Cultural Council, and many more! We will continue adding new applications throughout the year to make for a more streamlined and comprehensive process. Our Viewpoint online permitting site can be found here: https://franklinma.viewpointcloud.com/
Website: We continue to update the Town's website to make information more accessible for the public. All Agendas and Minutes for boards and committees are web-based and continuously updated. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Anchor (podcasts) and YouTube for up to date News and Announcements as well as visiting our website at www.franklinma.gov.
Franklin First: The Think Franklin First Gift Card program partners with local businesses to support the local economy by keeping money in Franklin.
Residents (or anyone interested) can purchase these gift cards which can be redeemed at a variety of participating businesses in Franklin. Over $68,000 in gift cards have been purchased and this number is only rising.
Town Employee Health Insurance: Franklin "Bends the Trend" by working with the Insurance Advisory Committee (IAC) to keep insurance rate increases for employees to a minimum. In FY23, we joined the Massachusetts Strategic Health Group (MSHG) and will continue with them for FY24. Please see the Human Resources Department report for additional information on health insurance.
Compensation and Classification Study: The Town Administrator worked very closely with the Human Resources Department to complete a Compensation and Classification study. We hired GovHR, a consulting firm that specializes in municipal government to review all our non-union job titles and help us ensure that our employees are paid at a competitive rate. We finally completed the plan in December 2022 and made adjustments to salaries. We believe that some small changes to our plan will help us continue to recruit and retain our wonderful staff.
In the Town Administration Department our goal is to deliver high quality customer service to Franklin residents and stakeholders while keeping costs under control. There will be difficult challenges to our budget in the coming years; but you can be assured that the Town Administration, Town Council, School Administration and School Committee will work through them together. As always, our door remains open to the Franklin Community.
In closing, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the outstanding work of our incredible Town Staff. We are extremely fortunate to have the exceptional leadership of our Department Heads, and such a dedicated team of employees working tirelessly for the betterment of our community. A tremendous amount of work goes into keeping the Town running as well as it does. It is truly a team effort and we couldn't do it without the contribution of each and every employee. Thank you.
It is my pleasure to submit an annual report of the Town Administrator for your review, and please feel free to write, email, or stop by with any questions, concerns, or comments.
Respectfully submitted,
Jamie Hellen,
Town Administrator
The full Town of Franklin FY 2023 Annual Report can be found online
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