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Research Areas - Civic Values and Institutions
In 1965 Old Orchard Beach became the first Maine town to abandon the town meeting in favor of a council-manager form of government. Previously, Presque Isle, Caribou and other communities had similarly abandoned the town meeting by becoming a city. However, Old Orchard Beach retained its traditional status as a town. Since Old Orchard Beach's action, 17 other towns have abandoned the town meeting form of government and adopted the council-manager form. Table 3 shows the town, the year of town meeting abandonment, the 1960 and 1970 populations of the town and the percent increase in the town's population over the 1960-70 period. During the period 1965 to 1975, there was a growing trend of town meeting abandonments in favor of the council-manager form of government. The 1970 populations of these towns range from 3,725 in Dexter to 16,195 in Brunswick, with eleven of the 18 towns exceeding 5,000 in population. The growth in population in these communities from 1960 to 1970 is of particular interest. Nine of the 18 municipalities had populations which expanded by 15 percent or more -- Cumberland and Windham exhibiting a 48.1 percent and 46.6 percent increase, respectively. The average population size of all 18 municipalities increased more than 14 percent over the 10-year period. This average percent increase compares to a 2.4 percent increase for the state as a whole over the 1960 to 1970 period. These data stimulate questions as to the applicability and workability of the town meeting in municipalities over 3,000 in population and in those which are experiencing significant population growth. While a variety of political, social and cultural factors assuredly came to play in these town meeting abandonments, the inability of the town meeting to provide representative and effective policy direction was a crucial factor. The following reasons have been cited as town meeting problems:
These and other considerations have contributed to the demise of the town meeting and its eventual abandonment in these communities. The town meeting still remains popular in its pure or modified form, especially in the smaller communities, and is a part of New England's political tradition. The Former town manager of Falmouth, Osmond Bonsey, presented some insight into the specific reasons for the abandonment of the town meeting in that community.
Recent abandonments of the town meeting in favor of the council-manager form of government all occurred during the ten year period from 1965 to 1975. Although there have been similar population increases in other municipalities, it is interesting to note that there have been no town meeting abandonments since 1975. It is likely that the amended town manager law and the adoption of home rule have provided municipalities alternatives to changing their form of governments. Return to Manager Plan Table of Contents As previously discussed, the legislature repealed in 1969 the 30-year-old town manager enabling act and enacted in its place a more extensive town manager enabling law. The revised enabling act contains provisions which:
This law eliminates some of the structural deficiencies of the earlier act and permits the town at the discretion of the town meeting to revise and integrate administration under the authority of the manager. Thus, this act permits towns to vest stronger appointing authority in the manager, which corresponds to the intent of the national movement for a strong appointed chief executive. However, the appointing authority continues to be rather dispersed between the town manager and the board of selectmen. There may be little acceptance of administrative integration under the authority of the manager until the need for such an alteration of tradition is amply demonstrated to town residents. The current town manager law, however, continues to provide an appropriate mechanism for adopting the manager plan in the state. Of the thirty Maine municipalities adopting the town meeting-selectmen-manager form of government since 1970, a majority have done so by adopting the town manager enabling law. Return to Manager Plan Table of Contents In May, 1970, Maine joined the ranks of over 40 other states which provide municipal home rule. Maine has non self-executing, constitutional home rule. That is, municipal home rule has been granted in general terms by the Maine Constitution, but the specific meaning of the home rule grant has been spelled out in an implementing statute. Hence, the philosophy of home rule is contained in the Constitution, and its meaning has been defined by the Maine Legislature. The grant of home rule to municipalities has two components. First, all towns and cities are authorized to alter or amend their charters "on all matters, not prohibited by Constitution or law, which are local and municipal in character." Second, any town or city may, through ordinance or by-law, "exercise any power or function which the legislature has power to confer upon it, which is not denied either expressly or by clear implication, and exercise any power or function granted to the municipality by the Constitution, general law or charter." Home rule means that Maine cities and towns no longer need to go to the legislature to obtain either a municipal charter or to amend a charter. (Towns and cities, however, can be incorporated only by special act of the legislature.) This can be done by the local voters through the legislatively authorized procedure. The procedures to be used in charter adoption or revision are detailed in state law. The question of whether or not to have a charter commission is decided by the voters. This question or any proposed charter amendments may be placed on the ballot either by initiative of the voters or by action of the municipal officers. If the voters establish a charter commission, six of its members are elected at-large on a non-partisan basis at the time the question is decided. Three more charter commissioners are appointed by the municipal officers. The charter commission has ten months to file its final report. The commission is required to hold at least one public hearing and file a preliminary report after eight months. After the final report is received, the municipal officers are required to submit the recommended new charter proposal or charter revision to the voters. The charter commission continues in existence until 30 days after the vote on the charter amendment or proposed new charter. Finally, to prevent passage or defeat of a proposed new charter, charter revision or charter amendment by a small minority of the voters, at least 30 percent of the total votes cast at the most recent gubernatorial election must be cast for the question. Otherwise, the outcome of the election is invalidated. In addition to local charter development, home rule broadened the scope of municipal power to include authority to enact local ordinances on all matters not precluded by the Constitution or state statutes. Prior to home rule, Maine towns and cities had only powers specifically delegated in law or fairly implied from the specific delegation. Through the home rule ordinance authority power, municipalities are delegated a realm of powers not denied but also not available, because they were not expressly delegated. Home rule provides municipal governments with broad flexibility to adjust form and administrative structure to meet changing needs. It allows for a community to construct its local constitution, the charter, from the bottom up. Although the new town manager law continues to be adopted, an increasing number of municipalities are adopting their own unique charters to meet their individual needs and philosophies of local government. Return to Manager Plan Table of Contents The Administrative Assistant Model A recent trend, made available through municipal home rule, has been an increase in the number of communities that have hired an administrative assistant to assist the board of selectmen. This individual may be assigned many of the same duties as a town manager or only a few select areas of responsibility. There is no one job description of an administrative assistant and many variations exist in practice. Used primarily in smaller towns, administrative assistants are hired to reduce the increasing administrative burden placed on boards of selectmen. Some municipalities feel more comfortable with this form of administrative structure because technically the board of selectmen remains the plural executive body and the town meeting still functions as the legislative body. According to a recent survey of Maine municipalities, over forty towns have opted for this creative administrative solution, with more than half doing so since 1980. This is a small-town solution, where the average population of those municipalities employing administrative assistants is less than 1,500. While this option provides needed administrative help, it has more of the same integration problems associated with "weaker" versions of the manager plan. There can be much responsibility given to the administrative assistant, but little or no administrative authority (Starn, 1987, pp. 11-14). Although the administrative assistant model is not technically within the manager plan form of government, it is an important recent trend in the administration of local governments in Maine and represents the largest growth rate in the 1980s. Return to Manager Plan Table of Contents
Lewiston City Hall, Courtesy Maine Historic Preservation Commission The Future of the Manager Plan If the past is any indicator of the future, the manager plan likely will continue to evolve in Maine. As smaller towns grow in population and become urbanized, their needs for centralized management and organization will require modification of the traditional town meeting structure and development of a manager framework. Medium sized towns may continue to abandon the town meeting and adopt representative councils. Generally speaking, the larger the municipality, the greater a need for continuous policy leadership, centralized administration and the integration of certain functions under the authority of one individual. The new municipal home rule law has tended to reduce the heavy reliance of many Maine municipalities upon the general law manager plan. At the local level, towns can frame, draft and adopt municipal charters, which can meet local needs better than the general law town manager enabling act. Similarly, home rule allows smaller towns to adopt the administrative assistant model. However, the revised enabling act likely will continue to be a useful device in some municipalities. Recent town meeting abandonments, the revision of the town manager enabling act and the adoption of home rule for Maine municipalities provide the needed flexibility for further innovation and development of the manager plan. However, with these changes, the development may not be governed as much by the original theory of the manager plan as by the particular policy-making and management needs in each community. The Maine Manager Plan itself has evolved from a rather orthodox design in the early 1970s to one that encompasses many structural variations of government and the role of the appointed, professional administrator.
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