Town Administrator John Coderre to leave Northborough

By Laura Hayes Managing Editor

NORTHBOROUGH - After years at the helm of Northborough, Town Administrator John Coderre will be heading to a new town.

will be joining Foxborough.

The Foxborough Board of Selectmen unanimously voted for Coderre to become Town Manager during a Jan. 17 meeting.

Coderre was one of four finalists for the Foxborough position, including the Chief of Staff and Director of Administrative Services in Weymouth Edward Langill, former Foxborough Building Commissioner Nicholas Ricco and Cohasset Town Manager Christopher Senior.

Coderre has been with Northborough since 2003 and has served as town administrator since 2008.

In a 2014 profile, Coderre said that the town has been his adoptive hometown since 1997.

He gained his first experience working in town administration as an intern for a town manager in Connecticut while he was finishing his master’s degree. Coderre said he realized how direct the relationship was with the residents during his first job.

“To see the impact immediately just hooked me. From there I stayed with it,” he said.

Coderre’s contract was up for renewal this year, and he underwent a performance review this summer.

“John, thank you very much for another year of, in my opinion, very, very excellent fiscal management and operations management for everything across the town,” Selectman Jason Perreault said this past summer following the review.

During deliberations, the Foxborough Board of Selectmen noted that Coderre came from a community that was a similar size and had similar characteristics. The board praised his budget background and his experience with collective bargaining.

Selectman Seth Ferguson said that Coderre rose to the top for him as a candidate.

“He has the experience. His skillset feels like it’s a strong match for our town,” said Ferguson. “He was, in my opinion, the most poised and polished in answering questions. His responses to the interview questions were clear and concise. He answered thoughtfully and succinctly, I thought, with really relevant examples.”

He noted that Coderre has been serving as town administrator for 14 years.

“If this works out here, I feel like he is here for the long haul,” said Ferguson.