Plymouth County government represents one of the largest counties in the state with over 1,000 square miles, 500,000 residents and 27 communities including Abington, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Hull, Kingston, Lakeville, Marion, Marshfield, Mattapoisett, Middleboro, Norwell, Pembroke, Plymouth, Plympton, Rochester, Rockland, Scituate, Wareham, West Bridgewater and Whitman.

Thank you to all who help out with the Plymouth County 4H drive for South Shore Food Pantries.

Meeting schedule of Board of Commissioners: Board meets weekly in either Plymouth or Brockton to authorize payroll, pay bills & other executive requirements for Registry of Deeds, courthouses & 4H Cooperative Extension.  Meeting schedule or location may change so please contact our office to confirm.
Board of Commissioners meeting:  May 10, 6 pm, Norwell.
Agenda:  Approve payroll & bills, financial & Budgets updates, Treasurer's reports, personnel & facilities updates.   
For copies of Meeting Agendas or Minutes, please contact the County Administrator (508) 830-9100.
Plymouth County Advisory Board meets annually to approve the county budget.  
Advisory Board meeting:  RESCHEDULED May 10, Norwell, 7 pm (Executive Board meeting at 6:30).  Agenda/minutes: updates from Dept Heads & Charter Study Commission, approve Supplemental Budget.  Thanks to Board members for your important service.
Plymouth County Health Group General Board meets May 3.  Thank you to Board members for their valuable service.
The Commissioners office or the Town Hall of the town listed is the location of the listed meeting unless otherwise noted.

Contact. The County Board of Commissioners are Anthony O'Brien, John Riordan and Sandra Wright.
The County Administrator is Brian McDonald.
Plymouth Office: 11 South Russell St., PO Box 4012, Plymouth Ma. 02361  (508) 830-9100 
Cell phone.  Since Commissioner O'Brien attends many meetings & events weekly throughout our very large county of 27 communities then it is usually best to contact him on his cell phone (508) 868-2547.
Commissioner O'Brien can also be reached at AnthonyThomasOBrien@yahoo.com or PO Box 4012, Plymouth Ma. 02361 or use our "CONTACT" link above to access our "Plymouth County Suggestion Box". Commissioner O'Brien also updates county issues on his Facebook page (www.Facebook.com Anthony O'Brien Navy Seal). Consistent with increased meetings & media outreach, your input to help improve our region is encouraged for all of us and our families & towns.
Please email AnthonyOBrien@PlymouthCountyMass.US to sign up to receive the County Newsletter.  
Please visit the County tourism website: www.SeePlymouth.com

Highlights from recent Commissioners' meetings:  Commissioners renewed two of our regionalization programs for bulk purchasing incl bulk purchasing for fuel oil and surplus public safety vehicles and office equipment for savings for towns and taxpayers.  Also discussed the recent meeting with state officials who agreed that the state's funding structure for the county, incl. underfunded deeds offices & courthouses, is unfair and, if not corrected by the state, may result in the county's failure. Thank you to the staff for support of recent meetings taking action on Budgets, bulk purchase contracts, Personnel Rules, vendors bids, facility repairs, Sheriff Dept. transfer issues (retirement and property issues), Stimulus Loans programs (Economic and Energy), IT program, more open space conservation and increased services, revenue, and regionalization.

Charter Study Commission Meetings: Final meeting was April 17 when the Commission voted to approve proposed Charter. Since establishment in 1685, Plymouth County has been governed by Mass. Gen. Law without a Charter which is not required by law. In the 1980s, a Charter Commission recommended changes to Plymouth County government which were disapproved by the voters. In the 1990s, 9 of the 14 county governments in Mass. were abolished by the voters of those counties and the State.  In 2010, the current Charter Commission was elected to study abolishing county government or proposing a Charter.   Commission officers are Chair Charles Markham, Vice Chair John Donahue, Treasurer Dick Zaccarro & Clerk Carl Harris.
The Commission voted 12-5 against abolishing county government  The Commission voted 7-5 to increase the number of Commissioners from 3 to 5, to change the title of Commissioner to Councilor, and to change members of the Advisory Board from elected to appointed. The Commission also voted for a Recall provision to remove elected County officials requiring 10% of County's registered voters.  There are 330,000 registered voters in the County.  
The Commission's proposed Charter will be forwarded to the state in May and if approved the question of whether or not the County voters want a Charter for County government will be decided on the November.  Supporters of a Charter & County government say a Charter will give the County more administrative, legal and financial authority.  Opponents say the Charter increases the size of government (Executive Branch), decreases accountability of the legislative branch (Advisory Board) & county finance problems are not sustainable.  Many support abolishing County government like 9 other counties in Mass. & like several other states.
The Commission will soon announce a Charter Signing & promotion Kick-off event.  Please send your questions or recommendations to Chairman Markham or Commissioner O'Brien. 

Please contact Anthony or any county officials, legislators and/or the Governor to advise them regarding county government issues.  For their contact info, please see their websites or email AnthonyThomasOBrien@yahoo.com or call (508) 868-2547 (Anthony's cell phone).  Anthony is contacted daily on such matters and is honored to respond to all inquiries.

More improved outreach to our communities:
Commissioner O'Brien's "Office Hours" to discuss issues with constituents:   TBA
Thank you to courthouse staff for Commissioner O'Brien's recent Office Hours in Brockton, Hingham and Wareham.
Next "Coffee Hour with Commissioner O'Brien"  TBA
Commissioner O'Brien meets with constituents regularly at local coffee shops, most recently in Brockton & Marshfield.
Commissioner O'Brien is invited to speak at meetings or events throughout the county & state about county government or the Navy Seals & would be honored to receive an invitation to speak at your group's next meeting. See Contact info above.

Improved media relations.  Thank you radio WATD 95.9 and WXBR 1460, TV stations, and many area newspapers & websites for great coverage of County issues & Commissioners meetings. Please support our media & their sponsors.
Tune in to Commissioner O'Brien's frequent "County Updates" on WATD, WXBR, and local cable TV. Thank you to media partners for helping the Commissioners keep the public more informed!

Welcome to Plymouth County government, the oldest colony then county in the United States. Plymouth County has county seats in Plymouth (also known as the County "Shiretown") and in Brockton, and several facilities in our 27 municipalities serving about 500,000 residents.
The primary functions of Plymouth County government are oversight of Registry of Deeds offices and maintenance of County courthouses. 
The responsibilities of the Board of Commissioners as the executive branch are managing personnel, facilities, property & legal matters for County government and departments.
 
Priorities.  After providing required services to county residents, we continue to encourage the state to fix the state's funding structure problem requiring 90% of county revenues to go to the state.
Regionalization.  Many states indicate counties can be an ideal level for regionalization since larger areas like counties usually qualify for more programs, grants, etc. & have less restrictions than smaller areas like towns and can provide significant savings of money for towns and taxpayers. However, Mass. Gen. Laws and formal state policies that govern county government have little or no provisions for regionalization or other revenue generating by county government.
Although there are no laws and requirements pertaining to regionalization and other revenue generating, Commissioners' ongoing regionalization and revenue generating projects include bulk purchase programs for fuel oil, office equipment, and public safety equipment & government vehicles, as well as conservation restrictions, parking program, leasing office spaces, & gravel sales.  
Thank you to all involved for efforts in the highly successful $42M County Economic Stimulus Loans program for public and private development projects creating thousands of jobs & stimulating local economies with low-interest Federal Loans for government revenues and no cost to taxpayers. Also thank you to all involved with $6M County Energy Stimulus Loans program for public Energy improvement projects saving towns and taxpayers money.
Other projects in development include law enforcement & firefighting training facilities.  Regional projects for waste management, electric services, alternative energy, and emergency dispatch are being studied.
Area Selectmen's Group for Regionalization next meeting:  TBA

The Commissioners office reformed the budget management process resulting in improved teamwork for balancing multi-million dollar deficits with new regionalization and revenue generating initiatives combined with significant budget reductions while increasing services.  
The County's first-ever Code of Ethics was created by the Commissioners making reforms for disclosures by officials in the procurement process.  Ethics training has been increased with partners including the state and towns.
Improved media outreach was led by the Commissioners who are grateful for invaluable media support for maximum information to the public.  
The Commissioners oversee the Registry of Deeds which records property transactions.
Plymouth County Treasurer manages the County Parking Dept. & Treasurer's finance records and oversees the Health Group & Retirement program.  Please contact the County Treasurer regarding those important departments.  
County Advisory Board is the legislative branch of County government that approves the budget annually.

In addition to the Plymouth County Health Group & Retirement Program, all other government agencies in Plymouth County are not part of County government since they report directly to the state including Plymouth County Sheriff Dept. (as of Jan 2010), Plymouth County District Attorney, Plymouth County Clerk of Courts, and Plymouth County Register of Probate.  Please contact those offices for info about their operations.

The Commissioners express sincere thanks to Department Heads, Selectmen and Legislators who also played important roles in increasingly challenging recent years for our county and the region.

Please remember in your prayers the family of Mr. Ray Bolduc, a long-time county employee and cancer victim, and the family of recently deceased title examiner Marilyn Parsons.
This is the County's first website publishing meeting notices and agendas online and created and maintained by Commissioner Anthony O'Brien. Your questions or suggestions are encouraged.  Thank you.