by John Osborn ·
Friday, June 19, 2026
Dawn Dunbar had been Harvard's assistant town administrator for six months when, following the resignation of Town Administrator Dan Nason in February, the Select Board asked her to step in as interim. On Tuesday, the board voted 5-0 to make the appointment permanent. She is the first woman to serve as Harvard's town administrator.
Dunbar stepped into the interim role on March 17 and for three months has juggled that job alongside her duties as assistant town administrator and human resources director.
Dunbar came to Harvard last August after 12 years in Groton, where she began her career in municipal government supporting the town's planning, conservation, and zoning boards, working her way up to executive assistant to the town manager, a job she held for nearly nine years. She then served three years as Groton's town clerk.
In choosing to appoint Dunbar, the board did not conduct a formal outside search, nor is it required by the Harvard Charter or its own policies and procedures to do so. Chair SusanMary Redinger said in an email Wednesday that the board reviewed the resume and references Dunbar had submitted when she was hired as assistant town administrator, solicited written evaluations from department heads and senior staff, conducted an online public interview June 16, and drew on nine months of direct observation of her performance.
"We've had the pleasure of working with you for about three months, and you really just, without missing a beat, stepped up and took on a huge plate," Redinger told Dunbar at the Select Board’s Tuesday meeting.
‘Exemplary’
All eight department heads and senior staff who submitted evaluations rated Dunbar either "Highly Efficient" or "Exemplary" overall, with 62.5% choosing the top rating. Communication was Dunbar’s strongest category: 75% rated her skills exemplary, and several contrasted her performance with that of past administrators. One wrote that she had "stepped up with communication and collaboration that has been lacking in Harvard for far too long." Another called the most recent Town Meeting "the best run Town Meeting I have been to in the 15 years I have been here."
Three priorities
Asked in the June 16 interview to name her top priorities for the next one to three years, Dunbar identified three.
Revenue comes first, she said. Harvard faces a projected deficit next year, and Dunbar said finding new sources of income is urgent. She wants to work with the board's new community and economic development director on opportunities identified by the board's at its recent strategic planning session.
Housing is second. The Municipal Affordable Housing Trust is exploring options, including development at Emerson Green in Devens and the town’s multifamily district at the intersection of Route 2 and Ayer Road. Dunbar noted that bringing water and sewer to the Ayer Road commercial district could also open the door to additional revenue.
The town’s former landfill is third, and the most immediate. Before 1984, Harvard residents disposed of household and construction waste in pits near what is now the Transfer Station on Depot Road. The state has determined that old landfill is the likely source of PFAS contamination in nearby private wells, and has ordered the town to remediate affected properties and cap the landfill.
In a report to the board Tuesday, Dunbar said a preliminary capping plan would eliminate most of the Transfer Station and all outbuildings adjacent to the DPW garage. Cost estimates are coming to the board in July, and the town will need to begin planning for the relocation of both facilities. The town is also watching whether MassDEP will issue a consent decree imposing a binding remediation schedule. 'We are on borrowed time with that landfill,' Dunbar said."
On conflict and how she handles it
Dunbar was direct in the interview about her temperament. ”I don't like confrontation,” she said, but she had learned how to handle it.
She gave the board an example.
Near the end of her time in Groton, she ran into repeated Open Meeting Law violations by a parks commission with, in her words, "very strong personalities." She warned the committee, got nowhere, and ultimately threatened to refer the matter to the attorney general's office. The committee accused her of overstepping. The select board backed her. "As uncomfortable as it made me feel," she said, "I was confident in my response."
Board member Eric Ward drew a distinction between confrontation and a willingness to hold firm, and said the board needs someone who will push back on them as well as on others. "There's a difference between confrontation and being able to be strong in your position," Ward said. "We're people that need someone to push back at us occasionally."
Dunbar said communication is her tool for managing those moments. "I will give you my opinion, always," she told the board, "but at the end of the day, it's whatever the board votes, and that is the direction in which I will carry out the goals and wishes of the board."
What the board wants from her
Board member Eve Wittenberg offered the most vivid description of the job. She said she is looking for a "ringleader in the circus,” someone who can hold the big picture while managing competing priorities, energetic volunteers, and a board that doesn't always agree. "I think that is probably almost unachievable," Wittenberg said, "but it's sort of what I would look for."
Redinger has been authorized to begin contract negotiations and met with Dunbar Thursday to start that process. The contract will require a board vote, which Redinger expects to happen at the board's next meeting June 30. Dunbar's appointment becomes effective on the date the contract is signed.
Town administrator: A brief history
The position of town administrator was created in 1988. Four men have filled the position. Dunbar, once confirmed, will be the first woman. Former Finance Director Lorraine Leonard served briefly as interim town administrator following the resignation of Paul Cohen and prior to the appointment of Tim Bragan.
John Petrin: 1988 – 2001
Paul Cohen: 2001 – 2006
Timothy P. Bragan: 2007 – 2024
Dan Nason: 2024 – 2026