SHEFFIELD — Replacing Sheffield's longtime town administrator has not been easy. The search has taken three rounds and forced the town's longtime administrator to postpone her retirement.

An Alford School Committee member in his 80s publicly urged someone younger to run for his seat — while preparing to seek another term himself if no one stepped forward.

In Egremont, with a population of 1,350, aging volunteer firefighters and mandatory retirement rules have pushed the town toward adding paid emergency responders, increasing costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Across South County's aging communities, the pool of residents willing — or able — to fill critical civic roles is shrinking. Small towns are confronting a growing challenge: replacing the people who have kept local government functioning for decades.

A man walks up toward the Alford Town Offices on Wednesday. Across South County's aging communities, the pool of residents able to fill critical civic roles is shrinking.

The challenge is unfolding in one of the state's oldest regions. Berkshire County's median age is 47.5, nearly eight years older than the statewide median of 40.1, and more than 26 percent of residents are 65 or older, compared to 18.9 percent statewide.

The challenge extends beyond any single position or town. As residents age, communities across South County are grappling with how to replace longtime public servants, volunteers and elected officials. At the same time, younger residents often face competing demands from work, family and housing costs that make it harder to take on civic roles.

When Sheffield Town Administrator Rhonda LaBombard announced her retirement in August 2024, she hoped to step down by December but stayed on to ease the transition. Nearly two years and three search processes later, the town is negotiating a contract with a candidate to replace LaBombard, who became town administrator in 2011 after serving four years as assistant town administrator.

For Select Board Chair Lee Buttala, the lengthy search is a reflection of the challenge many communities face as longtime public servants with big jobs hit retirement age. A town administrator in a small town — Sheffield's population hovers around 3,300 — extends far beyond balancing budgets as they are also responsible for personnel matters, state reporting and oversight of municipal departments ranging from police to the transfer station.

“There's a really wide range of skills that can be needed in it, and Rhonda has found that to be exciting, and I think hopefully the person that we've identified also feels the same way about that,” Buttala said.

A few towns over, Alford School Committee member Carl Stewart stood up at town meeting and said he would run for another term if necessary, but he hoped someone from the town with 484 residents would step forward.

“I still feel able to attend now, but I don't want to find myself, let's say two years from now, in a position where I am one of the members and not able to perform at a capacity that would be a plus for the community and not a negative, so what I'm doing is I'm thinking forward,” Stewart said.

Southern Berkshire Regional School Committee member Carl Stewart, of Alford, has served in local government in some capacity since moving there 30 years ago. Now, in his 80s, he's actively looking for candidates to run to fill his seat.

It took some “wheedling and cajoling,” but Stewart said he may have convinced someone who is “highly qualified and a lifetime educator” to run for the seat he has held 16 out of the last 20 years.

"I think that it's important that we recognize limitations imposed by age, they exist and it's unwise to deny that they exist. So it's time for me to step down," Stewart said, stressing how much he loved serving on the committee, even during difficult times.

For some positions, longtime volunteers aging out has a costly impact as fire departments across the county continue transitioning into paid departments. Egremont hired its first full-time paid fire chief last year and during town meeting this year, town officials stressed the impact of forced retirements on the department.

Four of the town's 10 volunteer firefighters have already aged out under the state's mandatory retirement age of 65, while two more are approaching that threshold.

"Our fire department is facing a serious challenge," Select Board Vice Chair Laura Allen said at town meeting. "Volunteer membership has been declining. It's been declining for years, and many of our volunteers are aging out."

Center Cemetery adjacent to the Alford Town Offices. As residents age, communities across South County are grappling with how to replace longtime public servants, volunteers and elected officials.

Town officials have identified a number of reasons why it can be difficult to find replacements for both paid and volunteer municipal positions — most of which don’t have a simple or cheap solution and some are outside of the town's control.

“Our decision-making is narrowed down simply by the fact that we live in an area of the state that isn't exactly inexpensive to live in or unchallenging if somebody has a partner who also needs to take on a job,” Buttala said.

Buttala said Sheffield municipal positions often come with competitive benefits, retirement plans and stable schedules, but attracting applicants for open positions remains a challenge. The search for a building inspector and highway superintendent was also difficult.

“It's hard for people to necessarily see some glamor and appeal in it on some level,” Buttala said. “That said, they really struggle to find people. They're good positions, and we're trying to make them approachable by allowing people to come in with varied skill sets and grow and evolve into these jobs.”

One approach is planning ahead and hiring people into secondary positions where they can train and grow, with the hopes of moving them up if someone retires or chooses to move on.

Many boards and committees rely on volunteers, often with little or no compensation. While retirees may have the time to serve, younger residents are often balancing careers, children and financial pressures.

“School committee is a great example in that you'd love to have people that are engaged and connected in the schools, because they have a real stake in what's going to happen there, but they’re also often at the busiest point in their lives,” Buttala said. “Our town models really are based on this idea of a volunteer core of engaged people and citizens. It's very complicated because life is more challenging nowadays for people.”

Recruiting volunteers can be difficult even in a small town like Alford, where Stewart has served in local government in some capacity since moving there 30 years ago.

“It's a sad commentary on how people value community, but I was never like that, and it has to do with what I can credit, not to me, but to my parents who were publicly or community-minded,” Stewart said. “I'm not unique in that regard. There were plenty of people like that, just not enough.”

Concerns about succession are not limited to Alford. A majority of the current members of the five-town Southern Berkshire Regional School Committee are not seeking reelection this year, leaving several seats to fill. The committee recently hosted an informational forum for prospective candidates from across the district. While turnout was not large, residents did attend to learn more about serving.

But for many, it’s not about not wanting to volunteer; it’s not having the means to do so.

“It’s a real commitment,” Buttala added. “In a right now financially challenging time for people too, where they're worried about work making ends meet, they're probably not thinking about where they can put their volunteer time.”

The effect of aging communities doesn't only impact the ranks of Town Hall staff or the local firefighter roster, it speaks to a community's vibrance. Take, for example, West Stockbridge, which canceled its annual Zucchini Festival this year for lack of volunteers to pull it off. It needed 100 volunteers, but only 60 signed on.

"We’re just not a town with lots of young people living in it. And that does decrease the amount of volunteers," West Stockbridge Cultural Council Chair Marjorie Powell told The Eagle.

Voters across the county are already seeing the effect on the budget when organizations that have relied on volunteers — like fire departments and ambulance services — can no longer do so.

During the town's annual meeting, Allen told residents that increases in payroll costs reflect both longtime employees retiring and the need to prepare for the loss of volunteer firefighters.

“And as our population ages, medical calls are increasing,” Allen said. “This is a life safety issue, we believe the town needs to address it directly and thoughtfully.”

About 22.5 percent of Egremont residents are over 65, a figure Allen said continues to grow.

“That means demand for town services is rising at the same time that the pool of available volunteers is shrinking,” Allen said. “That reality shows up in our payroll and benefit costs.”

The town recently approved adding another paid responder as officials prepare for the possibility that more longtime volunteers will be forced to retire.

Volunteer firefighter Lane Farnum said the age restrictions could sideline experienced members who remain active.

“But now all of a sudden I’m too old,” Farnum said. “But I can tell you one thing — I’m a much better volunteer fireman than our legislators are legislators.”

Fire Chief Joseph Schneider said the department is trying to prepare now rather than wait until more volunteers leave.

“I appreciate every one of these guys who have volunteered,” he said. “We had one guy last year who retired this year after 61 years and some of these guys are still very active and get up in the middle of the night every night to go answer the call when we need it.”

Fire Chief Joseph Schneider at Egremont's annual town meeting in May. Schneider said the department is trying to prepare now by finding and training more volunteers rather than wait until more volunteers leave.

“But when, as he says, the legislation comes down on us, what are we going to do? These guys are still making up our department. I don't want to be caught blindsided. So this is how we're trying to move forward.”

Despite the challenges, Buttala said public service remains rewarding.

“I hope to encourage people to take this on on any level, whether that's on the volunteer level, sitting on a committee, or engaging, even just at a town meeting,” Buttala said. “It's really fun to watch their relationship to the place they live change when they feel like they're really making a difference in it.”