Hubbardston Select Board votes 3-1 to offer town administrator post to Alex Magee

HUBBARDSTON -- May 15, 2026, Hubbardston Select Board voted 3-1 to offer the town administrator position to Alex Magee, a former deputy town manager and municipal finance director, over two other finalists at its May 15 meeting. The board also approved a 23-article Town Meeting warrant for the June 1 meeting at Hubbardston Center School, anchored by a fiscal year 2027 municipal budget carrying a 4.7 percent overall increase driven largely by a $67,000 jump in liability insurance and an $85 percent spike in debt service needed to correct a prior-year structural shortfall of more than $310,000. Interim administrator Sean recommended cutting the regional dispatch budget to $125,000, the fiscal year 2024 level, arguing the line had grown "not financially sustainable," and both fire and police chiefs had raised operational concerns about the Rutland-based Central Mass Dispatching arrangement. The board removed Article 21, a proposed 20-year Quabbin Regional School District agreement, citing unresolved concerns about a $5,000 emergency capital cost threshold that members called outdated. Board member Chris was the sole vote against Magee, having earlier moved unsuccessfully, with no second, to offer the job to finalist Elizabeth Kazinskas; supporters of Magee pointed to references from Andover, Arlington, and Lowell who said they would rehire him, and to confirmation from former Hubbardston administrator Ryan that he had been mentoring Magee.