The Manager Plan in Maine
MAINE'S
TOWN MANAGER PLAN STRUCTURE
Chapter II
The
Model
Since 1915, the National Municipal
League's Model City Charter has embodied the ideal structural characteristics of
council-manager government. Orin F. Nolting cites the three major features basic to the
council-manager plan as contained in the Model City Charter:
1) non-partisan,
at-large election of policy-making officials on a short ballot,
2) unification of
powers in the council, and
3) concentration of
administrative authority (Nolting, 1969, p. 25).
The desire to exclude partisan politics
from municipal government and reduce the number of elected officials to those on a small
council were early 20th century municipal reform ideas. These ideas were merged with the
council-manager concept in the 1915 Model City Charter. At-large election
provisions were not incorporated in the Model until 1933, after experience with the
previously recommended proportional representation scheme proved unsatisfactory. Under the
unification of powers concept the council is vested with ultimate control over both
administration and policy determination. Administrative control is exercised through the
council's power to hire and fire the manager at its discretion. Finally, concentration of
administrative authority is accomplished by giving the manager authority to appoint and
supervise department heads and to prepare and administer the budget. Dr. Nolting observes
that the Model "does not constitute the basis for all council-manager charters."
It is "...a guide, a reference, and an educational tool...." (1969, p. 25).
There is much diversity in the application
of the major features of the Model to council-manager government throughout the United
States. Council-manager municipalities often have elected officials other than the
council. District and partisan elections are not infrequent. The council may directly
appoint certain administrative officials and requirements for council confirmation of
managerial appointments may otherwise circumvent concentration of authority in the
manager.
Of the three features of the
council-manager plan, Nolting emphasizes the concentration of administrative authority as
the most crucial.
The criteria
generally used in determining whether a municipality has the council-manager plan rest on
two elements of the authority of the individual designated as the city manager: (1) the
appointment of department heads and (2) the preparation of the budget. If he has these
duties, the individual can manage; without them he is a figurehead. He does not need to be
called a city manager, but can have the title of chief administrative officer, city
superintendent, or general manager (1969, p. 32).
The Maine manager plan and the general
council-manager plan are not synonymous. Rather, the Maine manager plan represents the
application of various manager plan concepts to the particular needs of Maine municipal
government. The following pages describe and classify the variations of the Maine manager
plan. Here we seek to point out the characteristics of the manager plan in Maine and how
it differs from the classical council-manager model.
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