Bridgewater Welcomes Justin Casanova-Davis as New Town Manager

Justin Casanova-Davis has been selected as the Town of Bridgewater’s new Town Manager. (Photo Courtesy Justin Casanova-Davis)

BRIDGEWATER — The Bridgewater Town Council is pleased to announce that Justin Casanova-Davis has been selected to serve as the next Town Manager. With a strong background in local government and municipal finance and a passion for community engagement, Casanova-Davis brings energy, experience and a collaborative spirit to the position.

Casanova-Davis will begin in the role on Tuesday, July 1.

“I am ecstatic to be joining the Bridgewater community,” Casanova-Davis said. “Every opportunity I’ve had to engage with the community has shown me how passionate they are about their Town. I, too, share a passion for local government and making a positive difference in people’s lives. This is a fantastic opportunity, and I can’t wait to get started.

“I’m also eager to work with the Council and become part of the incredible team already in place. Working together to tackle challenges and embrace opportunities that will make Bridgewater an even better place for everyone who calls it home.”

Casanova-Davis has served as the Town Administrator for the Town of Norfolk since September 2022.

In Norfolk, he has assisted in the successful completion of a new fire station under budget, the passage of zoning changes that will spur redevelopment and increase revenue for the Town, the implementation of a community aggregation program that will save residents and businesses money on their electric bills and the garnering of over $2 million in grants and earmarks for the Town, among other accomplishments.

Prior to that position, he served as the Assistant Town Administrator in the Town of Brookline for four years. In addition to that role, he served as the Finance Director/Treasurer-Collector in his final year there. Casanova-Davis also previously worked as a Principal Budget Analyst for his hometown, the City of Cambridge, and has served as a Budget Analyst for the Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee.

Casanova-Davis is an award-winning local government professional who received the International City Manager’s Association (ICMA) Performance Excellence Award for Early Career Leadership in 2022. He is also a recipient of an Outstanding Commitment to the Institute of Public Service Recognition Award from Suffolk University and the 2021 Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Goldberg-Miller Public Finance Award. Casanova-Davis’s work on town budgets in Brookline and Cambridge was recognized several times with the GFOA Distinguished Budget Award.

Casanova-Davis was selected following a comprehensive, months-long search that included public interviews in March. He will succeed Acting Town Manager Blythe Robinson, who replaced Michael Dutton when he left the town for a new role.

“I am excited to welcome Justin Casanova-Davis as Bridgewater’s new Town Manager,” said Town Council Vice President Paul Murphy, a Councilor-at-Large who led the Town Manager Search Ad Hoc Committee. “With a distinguished record in municipal finance, infrastructure management, and community engagement, Mr. Casanova-Davis brings the leadership and experience our town needs. We look forward to working alongside him to address Bridgewater’s most pressing challenges, including our infrastructure, financial sustainability, and downtown economic development. His appointment marks an exciting new chapter for our community.”

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