The Manager Plan in Maine
Chapter
II: Summary
- Analysis
Fundamentally, the Maine manager plan
channels direction and control of municipal administration through a single manager, who
is appointed by and responsible to the elected municipal legislative and/or executive
body.
There are several manifestations of the
manager plan in Maine. Most prevalent, particularly in towns from 2,000 to 5,000 in
population, is the town meeting-selectmen-manager form in which the town meeting is the
municipal legislative body and the board of selectmen is the executive body. Towns and
cities over 5,000 in population tend to have the council-manager form with all powers of
the municipality vested in a small elected council. Prevalent to a lesser extent is the
town meeting-council-manager form in municipalities with populations under 10,000. Under
this structure, executive and some legislative powers of the town are vested in a small
elected council; other powers may be centered in the town meeting. Another variation of
the manager plan, found in municipalities over 10,000 in population, is the
mayor-council-administrator form of government in which the administrator works under a
part-time elected mayor. A category of local government developed since 1970 is the town
meeting-selectmen-administrative assistant in which the board of selectmen serves as the
administrative branch of government but employs an assistant to carry out some
administrative functions.
The Maine manager plan seems to conform to
the council-manager model in some ways. Maine councils or boards of selectmen are
generally small bodies, elected at-large, and on a non-partisan basis. These bodies
appoint a manager, who is responsible for administration and serves at the pleasure of
that body.
There have been and continue to be
variations from the basic features of the reformers' original model. First, a number of
council-manager municipalities have district oriented or elected councilors and some have
separately elected mayors. Though contrary to the traditional council-manager theory, this
does not seem to be detrimental to the operation of the manager plan in Maine. There is a
growing body of thought that district-oriented councilors and separately elected-mayors,
without administrative duties, may be appropriate methods to strengthen citizen
representation and political leadership in some communities. [See Joseph F. Zimmerman's
"Political Alienation and the Electoral System," Address delivered at the
National Conference on Government, Portland, Oregon, August 25, 1970.] Indeed, there is growing evidence, as reported in
Chapter 4, that communities nationwide are moving in the same direction.
Second, under the town
meeting-council-manager and the town meeting-selectmen-manager forms, legislative and
administrative powers are not really unified in the council or the board of selectmen. In
the former case, general legislative powers are shared with the town meeting, while in the
latter instance they are vested entirely in the town meeting. Under either form, policy
matters may need to be deferred to regular or special town meetings. If not, there is the
risk that programs developed by the selectmen or council and the manager may be curtailed
or eliminated by town meeting. This deference to the town meeting may inhibit decisive
action, long-range programming, and may even affect ability to direct policy direction for
boards of selectmen and councils under these forms.
Finally, under all these forms, the
manager's appointing authority and control over some financial officers tend to be
limited, because key subordinates may be separately appointed by the selectmen or council
or even separately elected. In some town meeting communities, selectmen themselves may
have administrative duties. Despite some of the differences from the model manager plan,
the various implementations of the manager plan in Maine have provided effective municipal
administration.
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