Home Awards Town Report Contest winners since 2000

Town Report Contest winners since 2000

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The Annual Town Report Contest, sponsored by the Massachusetts Selectmen’s Association, honors communities that produce the most impressive town reports.

Judging criteria include: attractiveness of the report cover and layout, material arrangement, presentation of statistics and data, summary of the year’s achievements, evidence of local planning for the future, and the report’s practical utility. First-, second- and third-place winners are selected in each of three categories based on population.

Winners are recognized and given a plaque during an awards ceremony at the MMA’s Annual Meeting & Trade Show.


Awards presented on January 22, 2011

Category 1
(population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Barnstable
2nd place: Wilmington
3rd place: Falmouth

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Weston
2nd place: Lancaster
3rd place: Topsfield

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Edgartown
2nd place: Oak Bluffs
3rd place: Tisbury

Judge: Michael O’Sullivan, a former chair of Lexington’s Appropriations Committee, and a past president of the Association of Town Finance Committees


Awards presented on January 23, 2010

Category 1
(population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Brookline
2nd place: Arlington
3rd place: Wilmington

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Boxborough
2nd place: Topsfield
3rd place: Rockport

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Rowe
2nd place: Hadley
3rd place: Edgartown

Judges: Michael O’Sullivan, a former chair of the Appropriations Committee in Lexington and past president of the Association of Town Finance Committees; and Don Marquis, a former town manager in Arlington and a member of Civil Service Commission and the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission


Awards presented on January 24, 2009

Category 1
(population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Arlington
2nd place: Brookline
3rd place: Wilmington

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Lancaster
2nd place: Topsfield
3rd place: Boxborough

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Hadley
2nd place: Tisbury
3rd place: Rowe

Judges: Michael O’Sullivan, a former chair of the Appropriations Committee in Lexington and past president of the Association of Town Finance Committees; and Don Marquis, a former town manager in Arlington and a member of Civil Service Commission and the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission


Awards presented on January 12, 2008

Category 1
(population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Wilmington
2nd place: Arlington
3rd place: Brookline

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Bedford
2nd place: Lancaster
3rd place: Harvard

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Rowe
2nd place: Edgartown
3rd place: Oak Bluffs

Judges: Michael O’Sullivan, a former chair of the Appropriations Committee in Lexington and past president of the Association of Town Finance Committees; and Charles Lyons, past president of the Massachusetts Selectman’s Association and the National League of Cities


Awards presented on January 13, 2007

Category 1
(population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Brookline
2nd place: Wilmington
3rd place: Concord

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Weston
2nd place: Harvard
3rd place: Topsfield

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Edgartown
2nd place: Tisbury
3rd place: Oak Bluffs

Judges: Michael O’Sullivan, a former chair of the Appropriations Committee in Lexington and past president of the Association of Town Finance Committees, and Raphaela Rozanski, a former president of both the MMA and the Massachusetts Selectmen’s Association


Awards presented on January 14, 2006

Category 1 (population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Wilmington
2nd place: Brookline
3rd place: Concord
Honorable mention: East Longmeadow

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Topsfield
2nd place: Nantucket
3rd place: Harvard

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Oak Bluffs
2nd place: Edgartown
3rd place: Boylston

Judges: Michael O’Sullivan, a former chair of the Appropriations Committee in Lexington and past president of the Association of Town Finance Committees, and John Mitchell, who served four terms as a selectman in Brewster and is a former president of the Cape Cod Selectmen’s and Councillors’ Association


Awards presented on January 8, 2005

Category 1 (population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Wilmington
2nd place: Brookline
3rd place: Concord

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Topsfield
2nd place: Nantucket
3rd place: Townsend

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Rowe
2nd place: Edgartown
3rd place: Oak Bluffs

Judges: George Howe, who served 33 years in municipal management, including 27 years as town manager in Ipswich, and Christine Rasmussen, program manager of the Essex County Buy Local Program


Awards presented on January 17, 2004

Category 1 (population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Gloucester and Westwood (tie)
2nd place: Brookline
3rd place: Arlington

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Topsfield
2nd place: Nantucket
3rd place: Boxford

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Edgartown and West Tisbury (tie)
2nd place: Rowe
3rd place: Lanesborough

Judges: Denise Casey, an independent consultant to local governments, coordinator of the expansion of Suffolk University’s master’s in public administration program to Merrimack College, and former human resources director in Bedford; and Victor DeSantis, executive assistant to the president and the founding director of Bridgewater State College’s Institute for Regional Development


Awards presented on January 11, 2003

Category 1 (population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Needham
2nd place: Brookline
3rd place: Sudbury

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Townsend
2nd place: Adams
3rd place: Boxford

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Princeton
2nd place: Edgartown
3rd place: Stockbridge

Judges: Thomas Groux, a consultant to local government who served 25 years as a town manager in Chatham, Duxbury and Winchester; and Thomas Hauenstein, human resources manager for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and a former executive secretary in Swampscott and Boxford


Awards presented on January 12, 2002

Category 1 (population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Brookline
2nd place: Concord
3rd place: Arlington

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Weston
2nd place: Adams
3rd place: Ayer

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Hardwick
2nd place: Edgartown and Stockbridge (tie)
3rd place: Tisbury

Judges: Marcy Crowley, a public policy consultant, former chair of the MMA’s Policy Committee on the Environment, and former selectman in Wayland; and William Hardin, a past president of the MMA and a former Finance Committee member and selectman in Easton


Awards presented on January 13, 2001

Category 1 (population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Arlington
2nd place: Brookline
3rd place: Northborough and Sudbury (tie)

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Nantucket
2nd place: Douglas
3rd place: Rockport and Stow (tie)

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Edgartown
2nd place: Tisbury
3rd place: Rowe

Judges: John Kent, a past president of the Association of Town Finance Committees and a former selectman and Finance Committee member in the Easton; and Stephen McGoldrick, deputy director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and former chief of staff of the Chelsea Receivership, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Personnel Association, and personnel director for the city of Everett


Awards presented on January 29, 2000

Category 1 (population 12,500-plus)
1st place: Arlington
2nd place: Brookline
3rd place: Lexington

Category 2 (population 5,000-12,499)
1st place: Manchester-by-the-Sea
2nd place: Middleton
3rd place: Harvard

Category 3 (population 4,999 and under)
1st place: Edgartown
2nd place: Rowe
3rd place: Tisbury

Judges: John Kent, a past president of the Association of Town Finance Committees and a former selectman and Finance Committee member in the Easton; and Stephen McGoldrick, deputy director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and former chief of staff of the Chelsea Receivership, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Personnel Association, and personnel director for the city of Everett