Framingham Mayor Warns Shrewsbury: Strong-Mayor System Depends on Who Holds Office

SHREWSBURY -- March 2, 2026, Shrewsbury's Form of Government Study Committee got an unvarnished look at city government from Framingham Mayor Charlie Sisitsky at its March 2 meeting. Sisitsky, a former Framingham selectman and public works director who won the mayoralty after the city's rocky first elected mayor left office, told the committee that Framingham's 2018 charter conversion, which created an 11-member city council and a strong mayor with a $400 million budget, has delivered real advantages in budget flexibility, zoning speed, and state-level attention, but that the system's quality rises and falls entirely with whoever holds the office. "The city's lucky to have me as a mayor," he said, "but it could have been just as bad as the first mayor." The committee voted to approve its annual town report and set a timeline to finalize a Likert-scale community survey by April 6 for distribution in early April, with a guest appearance from former Taunton Mayor and ex-Division of Local Services director Robert Nunes scheduled for March 16 at Town Hall.