New Jerusalem Town Hall - 551 N Peabody Avenue
This large brick building, built in 1901, houses the town's administrative offices. Hours are 8 a.m. to noon and 1-5 p.m., Monday-Friday.
Mayor's Office: since the post is a part-time job, the Mayor is here one hour a day. Knock first, then try the door. He has no secretary, but messages can be left with Janet Larkin.
Public Room: the mayor, 48-year-old Joseph L. Peabody, meets in open sessions twice a month on the second and fourth Wednesday with the selectmen. Here policy is argued out and decided upon in public. (The topic of zoning is being hotly debated.)
Town Manager's Office: after selectmen and mayor expostulate, the town manager gets to make sense of their frequently bizarre decisions and to remember all the things that they forgot. Darrell Slocum, 37, is the effective head of municipal government and is paid nearly $8,000 a year in the full-time position.
Clerk's Office: As the manager creates effective policy, the town clerk creates effective ways of implementing and recording it. Miss Janet Larkin, 32, holds the post. The following records are open to the public: deeds, deed transfers, local census records, local birth/death/marriage certificates, business licenses, military draft records, assessment and tax records, town budgets and expenditures dating back to the beginning of the 19th century, and other records. Auto registration is a Commonwealth matter, the information is held in Boston.
Engineer's Office: variously maintains, inspects, judges, or records (1) building permits and designs since 1891, (2) New Jerusalem's water and sewer systems, (3) gas lines, (4) electric lines, (5) streets, curbs, bridges, and the Missituk embankments, (6) parks, (7) school and office buildings and other town property. Frequently records are not methodical, but the staff will go to a lot of effort to help out a citizen.
Assessor's Office: establishes property tax rates, assesses property, collects taxes, and disburses money as the selectmen authorize. All monetary transactions are matters of public record.
School Board: meets once a month. Most people in New Jerusalem agree on what schooling is for and on what needs doing about it—policy questions fall to such pointless levels as whether or not Easter-egg hunts are lascivious and anti-Christian.
Founding Date
1901
Type
Ministry / City hall
Parent Location
Owning Organization
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