Robert Nunes is back for another challenge

MIDDLEBORO — Less than four years after retiring as Middleboro’s town manager, Robert Nunes is back in the same office he occupied for nearly a decade.

Nunes has retired twice since 2022 — once after leaving his full-time post in Middleboro and another time after serving as Lakeville’s interim town administrator in 2024. But he returned to office again after being selected as Middleboro’s second interim town manager in early September after Joe Perkins’ term expired.

There’s one simple reason why he said he returned: “I like a challenge.”

His goal over the next six months is to get the town into a good financial position before fiscal year 2028, which starts on July 1, 2027. He thinks that his decades of work in municipal finance put him in a good position to help the town during a time of financial struggle.

“I have a very good handle on the budget and municipal finance, and I’m here to make some recommendations and work with the finance team to get the town moving in the right direction,” he said.

He’s already begun doing so in his short time as town manager. During his first meeting on Sept. 21, he delivered a thorough presentation updating the town about the status of the fiscal year 2025 audit and where the current year’s budget stands.

Nunes has lots of experience managing towns going through difficult financial periods, like Middleboro is right now. Along with his Lakeville position, Nunes helped Lawrence balance its budget after ending up with a $24 million deficit. He was appointed as a financial overseer to the town while working in the Division of Labor Services. He also served as the mayor of Taunton from 1992 to 2000, and from 2004 to 2007.

Some Middleboro residents praised him for how he left the town’s finances when he first retired in 2022. At that time, the town had around $6 million in free cash.

Select Board member Tracie Craig-McGee said she was “amazed at his financial acumen” during the Aug. 31 meeting when he was appointed.

One of her fellow Select Board members, Brian Giovanoni, who cast the only vote opposing his appointment, criticized Nunes for calling the town’s financial situation under former Town Manager Jay McGrail “scandalous.”

Nunes declined to comment on his remark. “I’m just moving forward,” he said.

He said he is looking forward to working with people in town government that he’s known, but also to working with new faces.

Back at the same desk he occupied for eight years, he’s ready to get back to work for Middleboro. “Middleboro is a great town,” he said.