The Manager Plan in Maine

The Structure of the Maine Manager Plan

The Maine manager plan might be described as the channeling of direction and control over municipal administration through a single administrator appointed by and responsible to a small municipal legislative and/or executive body elected on a non-partisan basis. Over the last 70 years the manager plan has been applied extensively in Maine cities, towns, plantations and villages. (A plantation is a unit of general municipal government unique to Maine. Under general law, plantations have annual meetings and a somewhat simpler governmental organization than towns, but plantations are not accorded the broad home rule and ordinance powers of towns and cities). Today, nearly half of Maine's 490 municipal units operate under the manager plan or some variation of the manager plan.

The Maine manager plan can be classified into five general categories. The distinction between the categories is based upon the type of power available to the elected body to which the manager is directly responsible. These categories are: the council-manager form, the town meeting-council-manager form, the town meeting-selectmen-manager form, the mayor-council-administrator form, and the town meeting-selectmen-administrative assistant form. While technically an administrative structure within the town meeting-selectmen form of government, the administrative assistant category typically has not been considered a part of the manager plan. However, it does represent the administrative structure of a growing segment of municipalities within the state. A brief description of each form of government is as follows.

1. Council-Manager: All municipal legislative and policy determining powers are unified in a small elected council. The council hires a professional manager to carry out its policy and to direct administration. The manager is vested with administrative authority to appoint and supervise personnel, to prepare and administer the budget and to make recommendations and reports to the council. Ultimate responsibility for policy and administration, however, resides with the council. This form parallels the national model which also has numerous hybrids.

2. Town Meeting-Council-Manager: General legislative powers and policy-making authority are vested in a small elected council. Other such powers are retained by the town meeting. The manager is responsible to the council for town administration, and is accorded some degree of supervisory, appointment and budgetary authority. Under this form the council has less legislative and policy-making flexibility than does the council-manager council form of government.

3. Town Meeting-Selectmen-Manager: The town meeting is vested with general legislative and policy determining powers, while the board of selectmen under law may enact certain ordinances regulating vehicles and public ways, and under the authorization of town meetings may amend certain zoning ordinances (M.R.S.A., Sections 2151 (3) C and 4953 (3)). The elected board of selectmen is the executive body of the town. It retains ultimate responsibility for administration but hires a manager to carry out and oversee day-to-day operations. The extent and scope of managerial administrative authority varies. Since the town meeting is constituted only occasionally, the board of selectmen may exercise some discretion in interpreting town meeting policy between town meetings.

4. Mayor-Council-Administrator: Typically, these are variations on the mayor-council form of government with an elected mayor acting as chief administrative officer of the municipality and a full-time administrator working directly under the mayor.

5. Town Meeting-Selectmen-Administrative Assistant: Under the administrative assistant form of government, the town meeting is vested with general legislative and policy determining powers and final administrative authority rests with the board of selectmen unless superseded by local charter. The administrative assistant works directly for the board, although in many cases performing the same duties as a town manager.

The table shows the number of Maine municipalities within each form of government category, by selected population groups. Manager plan municipalities are defined as the Council-Manager, Town Meeting-Council-Manager, and the Town Meeting-Selectmen-Manager forms described above. As shown in the table, just over one-third of all Maine municipalities operate under the manager plan. Taking into consideration towns employing administrative assistants, nearly one-half of all Maine municipalities operate with some form of the municipal administrator.

Forms of Maine Local Government with An Appointed Administrator
by Population Group*

* As reported by local government officials, 1991.

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The Council-Manager Form

The council-manager form of government is used in 40 Maine municipalities and represents one-fifth of all manager plan municipalities. This form of government is found most often in municipalities with populations above 5,000, with no municipalities below 1,000 population operating under this form of government. These council-manager governments may deviate from the national model in several respects. One-third of the municipal councils in Maine are oriented to district rather than at large representation.

Five council-manager municipalities elect a mayor at-large. Under this system, the elected mayor is presiding officer and ceremonial head of government. The mayor may vote only if there is a tie, and has no administrative duties. The exception to this is Gardiner, in which the mayor appoints certain officers with the consent of council. It is noted that a separately elected mayor, who has an at-large or city-wide constituency, may be more likely to be involved in purely administrative matters than a mayor elected by and from the council.

Most Maine council-manager charters designate the manager as administrative head of government responsible to the council for the administration of all departments. While the manager is generally accorded broad responsibility for direction and control of administration, some charters have placed limitations on the manager's authority.

One indicator of managerial authority is the extent to which the manager has broad power to appoint and dismiss subordinates. Council appointment of municipal officers has been rather widespread in Maine. In over half of the council-manager municipalities, the council appoints three or more municipal officials in addition to the manager. Most frequently, these council appointed officials are: clerks, solicitors, tax collectors, treasurers, and assessors. In some municipalities all key financial officers are appointed by the council, which is an apparent limitation on the manager's financial direction and control capability. A few public safety officials such as health officers, police chiefs and fire chiefs are appointed by the council. In addition, there are instances where various boards and commissions, some of which may have administrative functions, are appointed by council. In a majority of Maine council-manager municipalities, the manager is precluded from appointing or dismissing certain municipal operating officials, who are in theory subordinates.

In fact, only a few municipal charters provide that the manager has the sole power to appoint other department heads and employees. Many charters require that the council confirm managerial appointments. Some have argued that this practice compromises the manager's administrative responsibility to the council, because the manager may have to appoint on the basis of council consensus rather than on the basis of administrative competence. The practice is thus a shared responsibility and becomes even more significant, however, when a manager has need to dismiss or demote an employee. Unless the manager's authority to dismiss or demote is spelled out clearly in a charter or in an ordinance, council confirmation of such actions may be necessary and could involve political ramifications.

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The Town Meeting-Council-Manager Form

Several Maine municipalities have the town meeting-council-manager form. It is used by municipalities with populations between 1,000 and 10,000. Approximately 40 percent of municipalities with the town meeting-council-manager form have adopted this form of government since 1970.

Essentially, the Maine town meeting-council-manager charter provides for a sharing or a division of the legislative powers of the municipality between the town meeting and the council. The exact delegation of powers differs from one municipality to another. In some municipalities, the municipal legislative powers may be shared by the town meeting and council. Generally, all legislative powers not specifically delegated by the charter to the council and all other residual powers of the municipality remain vested in the town meeting. In other municipalities, the town meeting is retained for the primary purpose of approving and adopting the annual town budget with all other legislative and residual powers of the town vested in the elected town council.

This latter variation of the town meeting-council-manager form also was used in Falmouth, Gorham, Kittery and Old Orchard Beach to reduce the need for frequent town meetings and to facilitate policy-making through a small council vested with broad powers. These four towns, however, have since voted to discontinue the town meeting and to transfer the budget adoption function to the council, thereby converting to the council-manager form.

The Maine town meeting-council-manager form features a small council of either five or seven members that is elected at-large and on a non-partisan basis. In addition to sharing the municipal legislative powers with the town meeting, the council is vested with the executive-administrative authority of the town. The council then appoints a town manager who is accorded supervisory, appointment and budgetary authority. In several instances, however, the council itself has some administrative duties (i.e., serving as overseers of the poor, assessors, road commissioners). In other cases, the council may appoint the clerk, tax collector, treasurer, health officer or other municipal officials.

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Town Meeting-Selectmen-Manager Form

More than one quarter of all Maine municipalities and two-thirds of those with managers operate under the town meeting-selectmen-manager form of government. This form of government is most frequently found in municipalities with populations between 1,000 and 3,000. Under this form, the town meeting is vested with the general legislative powers of the town; while a board of three, five or seven part-time selectmen, acting as a body, is the plural executive agency which collectively interprets the wishes of the town meeting between sessions. Statute now vests municipal officers with authority to adopt ordinances regulating public ways, property and vehicles (30 M.R.S.A., Section 2151 (2-3)). The town meeting determines policies of the town and the board of selectmen may interpret them on a day-to-day basis. The extent of discretion and leadership exercised by boards of selectmen, however, will vary among towns and will depend somewhat on recent history, town traditions and the particular nature of matters under consideration.

The administrative duties of the town are typically distributed among the board of selectmen, the manager and other elected officers such as clerks, treasurers, tax collectors, etc. At least 14 Maine towns have the town meeting-selectmen-manager form by virtue of pre-home rule special legislative (act) charters. Many such charters were adopted prior to the passage of the town manager enabling act in 1939. From 1939 until 1970, all towns operating under this form of government did so under the town manager enabling act. Of those municipalities adopting this form of government since 1970, approximately half have adopted this form of government through the town manager enabling act.

The town of Sanford operates under a limited town meeting form of government with a five member board of selectmen. These representatives are elected from districts to attend the town meeting. Any voter may speak at the town meeting, but only the elected representatives may vote. While two other Maine towns once operated under this form of government (Old Orchard Beach and Caribou), only Sanford continues the limited town meeting today.

Over the years, certain defects in the operation of town government under the 1939 act, as amended, became evident. For example, the act did not clearly define the duties of the manager. Dr. Dow made this point in a 1958 newsletter article:

Under Maine law the voters in town meeting may decide what offices the manager shall hold, or may delegate this authority to the selectmen. Thus the authority of the manager in a Maine town may vary from year to year, and may be quite different from his neighbor in the next town. The voters may continue to elect the treasurer, and the selectmen may decide to give the manager the job of road commissioner while appointing someone else tax collector.  All sorts of combinations are possible, many of them resulting in a job which may resemble a chief water boy more than it does a chief administrative officer.  In too many Maine towns the duties of selectmen and manager have never been clearly delineated, with buck passing, confusion and inefficiency the inevitable consequence (Dow, 1958, pp. 3-4).

Among other problems with the plan was the lack of a defined role of the board of selectmen vis-a-vis administration and the failure to delegate to the manager sufficient formal authority to implement policies.

In 1969, the 104th Legislature repealed the amended version of the 1939 act and substituted in its place a new and more comprehensive town manager enabling act. The new act restates the powers and duties of the manager expressed in the previous enabling act and defines for the first time some new managerial powers and duties. [For a more detailed analysis of the differences between the new and old acts, as amended, see James J. Haag, "The Manager Plan - Something Old - Something New, " Maine Town and City Management Association Newsletter XVII, No. 8, May 1970, pp. 1-5]. Those managerial duties expressed in the original 1939 act are restated: to execute municipal laws and ordinances, to attend board of selectmen meetings, except when removal of the manager is being considered, to act as town purchasing agent, to advise selectmen and residents concerning the town financial condition, and to make recommendations for the more efficient operation of the town.

The 1969 act designated the manager as "chief executive and administrative officer of the municipality," responsible to the selectmen for administration of all offices under the selectmen. The act gives the manager some authority to carry out this responsibility through the power to "appoint, subject to the confirmation of the selectmen, supervise, control and remove the heads of departments under the control of the selectmen." The manager also was given authority to "appoint, supervise, control and remove all other officials, subordinates and assistants." Other new duties assigned to the manager were: to attend all meetings and hearings of the town, to collect data necessary for budget preparation and to assist, insofar as possible, residents and taxpayers in discovering their lawful remedies in cases involving complaints of unfair vendor, administrative and governmental practices.

This act includes provisions dealing with managerial qualifications, tenure, absence and disability, and defines the municipality's ordinance power in administrative matters. It also defines the role of the selectmen and clarifies the relationship of the selectmen to the manager and the administrative organization. The board of selectmen as a body is vested with the executive and administrative powers of the town, but the board is required to deal with the administration of the town solely through the manager. The selectmen are forbidden to give orders to managerial subordinates either publicly or privately, but the selectmen may conduct investigations into the conduct of any official or department on any matter related to the welfare of the municipality.

As originally passed in 1969, the new town manager law would have required that only the selectmen and the school committee be elected. All other officers of the town including the clerk, treasurer, assessors and overseers of the poor would have been appointed by the manager, subject to confirmation by the board of selectmen under the law as passed in 1969. In the 1970 special session of the 104th Legislature, this provision was amended to provide that unless the town otherwise designates, the moderator, assessors, overseers of the poor, clerk and treasurer continue to be elected.

The effect of the revised act as amended, therefore, is to permit towns at their own discretion to make all functional town offices accountable to the manager through broad managerial appointing authority. This is consistent with the manager's role as "chief executive and administrative official of the municipality." Without the 1970 amendment, this arrangement would have been mandatory, but with the law as it exists today, this arrangement may be adopted only if so desired by the town. A 1970 survey indicated extensive limitations in the authority of managers to appoint functional officers in Maine town meeting-selectmen-manager municipalities. A 1991 survey identified similar, but less extensive, appointment limitations. The definition of expanded managerial duties and the role of the selectmen in the new act eliminates some of the ambiguity and varied practices prevalent under the old act.

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The Mayor-Council-Administrator Form

Four Maine municipalities have a mayor-council-administrator form of government. These four cities are Biddeford, Saco, Waterville, and Westbrook. In terms of population, the mayor-council-administrator form of government is most common in communities with populations above 10,000. In this form of government, the council is the representative legislative body with the mayor serving as the chief administrative officer of the municipality and the administrator working directly under the mayor. All four cities have councils, all are predominantly ward elected, and have a part-time mayor elected at-large. Biddeford and Saco have weak mayor-council forms, in which the elected mayor has limited controls over administration but from time to time have experienced strong willed mayors. Both Waterville and Westbrook vest the mayor with relatively strong authority to appoint city officials and direct administration.

Under this form of government, the mayor-council relationship is preserved. The council is vested with the bulk of legislative powers, while the mayor is the chief executive officer and administrative head of government. The office of the mayor continues to be elected and part-time. The mayor appoints most officers and directs city administration. Much of the mayor's authority, however, is delegated to the professional administrator who is directly accountable to the mayor for extensive supervision of day-to-day administration. Thus, the mayor has more time available for analyzing and developing policy and the broader considerations related to administrative problems.

The mayor-council-administrator form of government represents an attempt to wed politics with professionalism. It is clear, however, that this form places highest priority on the ability of the administrator and the mayor to work closely together and to operate as a team. Frequent turnover of the office of the mayor may tend to make the administrative officer a precarious position. Different personalities and leadership styles, and the distinct political persuasion of the various mayors may result in frequent turnover in the office of the professional administrator.

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Town Meeting-Selectmen-Administrative Assistant Form

The Town Meeting-Selectmen-Administrative Assistant form of government operates in about 8 percent of Maine municipalities. It is most characteristic of smaller communities, since 95% of Administrative Assistants operate in municipalities with populations under 3,000 and over three-quarters under 2,000 in population. While technically an administrative variation of the town meeting-selectmen form of government, it has become increasingly popular in Maine. Although in some municipalities the administrative assistant performs many of the same duties as a manager, the board of selectmen has final administrative authority. In many cases the town meeting-selectmen-administrative assistant form has replaced the town meeting-selectmen-form, with the administrative assistant serving as the tax collector, treasurer, and clerk. The reasons for a municipality to change to an administrative assistant form of government vary widely, but some general observations have been suggested by Michael Starn, Editor of the Maine Townsman:

Growth pressures, the increasing complexities of government, and the time commitment required of selectmen have all contributed to the decision in a number of small communities to explore the alternative forms of government available to them. For those communities deciding to create an administrative assistant position, the underlying reason has been a reluctance to make the jump from a selectmen/town meeting to a selectmen/manager/town meeting form of government...those communities opting for the selectmen/administrative assistant have felt that this arrangement gives selectmen and townspeople more control over the affairs of town government (Starn, October 1987, pp. 11-14).

Regardless of the underlying reason to adopt the town meeting-selectmen-administrative assistant form of government, the significant number of adoptions since 1985 (1/3 of the total) indicates the trend is likely to continue.

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