For our June Coffee & Conversations, we were joined by three municipal leaders to discuss how their communities and municipal service providers have adjusted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Elizabeth Dragon, City Manager of Keene, NH; Troy Brown, Town Administrator of Litchfield, NH; and Naomi Bolton, Town Administrator of Weare, NH, talked about how COVID-19 affected how they serve their citizens and examined how this pandemic has possibly changed how they’ll do business after quarantine ends.
Watch a recording of the webinar online and hear from each of them as they discuss COVID-19’s impact on everything from multimillion-dollar municipal budgets to the day-to-day operations at their trash and recycling centers.
Watch the Recording
Elizabeth Dragon, City Manager, Keene, NH
Elizabeth A. Dragon serves the City of Keene in the role of City Manager. Appointed City Manager for the City of Keene September 25, 2017; she has served in local government since 1998. Prior to her arrival at the City of Keene, Elizabeth served as City Manager for the City of Franklin for nine years where she was instrumental in various economic re-development initiatives in the downtown. In Franklin, she also performed a lead role in the community’s substance misuse prevention initiative. Prior to her arrival in Franklin, Ms. Dragon gained a great deal of diverse experience managing the communities of Bristol and Plymouth.
Elizabeth has a Bachelor’s degree in accounting and before transitioning to management she worked in the field of finance. Later she completed the NH Division of Personnel’s Certified Public Manager two year Program. Elizabeth is also a credentialed manager through the International City Manager Association (ICMA) and recently completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Troy Brown, Town Administrator, Litchfield, NH
Troy Brown was appointed as the Litchfield Town Administrator in September 2015. He managed the day-to-day operations of municipal government and the town’s $7-million-dollar annual budget. Troy has more than 25 years of municipal experience working in the towns of Limestone, ME; Londonderry, NH; Pembroke, NH; and Hollis, NH. Troy has worked on Brownfield Environmental clean-up sites; developed Tax Increment Financing districts; and coordinated construction of town office buildings, fire stations and athletic complexes.
Troy is a graduate of the University of Maine. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration and is actively seeking to become a Certified Public Manager through the NH Bureau of Education.
Naomi Bolton, Town Administrator, Weare, NH
Naomi Bolton serves as Town Administrator for Weare, NH. She began working in municipal government in 1995. Her first position was as a part-time Planning and Zoning Clerk; shortly thereafter, she became a full-time DPW Administrator. Over the years, she has cross-trained and worked in nearly every department at her municipal offices. In 2009, the Town Board appointed her Administrator with the caveat that she pursue more education.
Naomi attended Primex’s Supervisor Academy and graduated in 2010 from New Hampshire’s CPS program, followed by the New Hampshire CPM program in 2011. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Granite State College in 2014 and graduated from the University of New Hampshire Manchester with a Master of Public Administration in 2016.
In her free time, Naomi enjoys spending time with family; riding motorcycles, ATVs, and snowmobiles; and visiting Northern New Hampshire and Maine. She has been married for 35 years, has two grown sons, a daughter-in-law, and a three-year-old granddaughter with another one on the way. Upon retiring, she plans to “enjoy life and travel.”
