The Manager Plan in Maine

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

Ten years have passed since James Wilson and Robert Crowe wrote Managers in Maine, a definitive study on the substance and development of the Maine manager plan. Much has happened in the interim. The number of Maine communities with the manager plan has increased 15 percent. Thirteen towns have abandoned the town meeting. The 1939 town manager enabling law was revised and strengthened in 1969. Maine towns and cities have been granted home rule. This study attempts to update and expand the Maine manager plan literature. It discusses the early manager charters, factors to growth of the plan, the current manifestations of the manager plan and developments which will affect the manager plan in the future.

The first phase of this study was initiated in 1968 as a Bureau of Public Administration summer research project. The project was assigned to John B. Forster, a graduate student in Political Science at the University of Maine at Orono. Mr. Forster worked under the direction of Paul C. Dunham, B.P.A. Research Supervisor. The result of this project was a work paper which has served as the basis for "Development of the Manager Plan" in Chapter I.

The project was not resumed until spring, 1970 when the author became involved in extensive council-manager charter analysis, analysis of municipal home rule and evaluation of the town manager enabling act. A draft of this study was prepared and submitted to a number of individuals familiar with Maine manager government for review and comment.

Mr. Osmond Bonsey, Falmouth Town Manager, chaired a Maine Town and City Management Association Committee of Managers, which offered many constructive suggestions and comments. Besides Mr. Bonsey, the members of this committee were: Mr. Woodbury E. Brackett, Auburn City Manager (now retired); Mr. Harold Bean, Farmington Town Manager; Mr. Dana F. Connors, Presque Isle City Manager; and Mr. Merle F. Goff, Bangor City Manager.

Other individuals who reviewed and critiqued the draft include: Mr. Dana R. Baggett, Director, Bureau of Public Administration, U. of M.; Dr. Edward F. Dow, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, U. of M.; Mr. Paul C. Dunham, Director of Institutional Research, U. of M. at Orono; and Mr. John B. Forster, Program Analyst, State Planning office, Augusta.

The author wishes to express his appreciation for the generous and expert assistance given by these individuals. A special note of thanks is extended to Mrs. Gilberte M. Violette, Research Secretary, Bureau of Public Administration for invaluable help in typing, proofing and correcting the manuscript. The author retains responsibility for any errors in content.

Return to Manager Plan Table of Contents