Politics & Government

Residents Question Need for Town Manager

Public hearing discussion centered on the proposal to hire a professional town manager.

The Charter Revision Commission (CRC) held its second public hearing Thursday night at (WMS) to outline their initial findings and recommendations before submitting them to the Board of Selectmen (BOS) for a town wide vote in November. While the Commission proposed several changes to the Town Charter, the focus of the hearing was a recommendation to hire a professional town manager to take over the administrative duties of the first selectman.

Under the current CRC proposal, the town would still function under the Town Meeting system, in that residents would retain their current powers under the charter, and would keep the BOS as the legislative body, led by the first selectman, however the town manager would oversee the day-to-day operations.

Though it is not under the purview of the charter and the CRC, the Commission also recommended that the BOS, including the first selectmen, be unpaid, volunteer positions.

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The Commission invited Mansfield Town Manager Matthew Hart, who works in conjunction with a Town Council form of government, and Bolton Administrative Officer Joyce Stille, who work with a board of selectmen, to speak about their positions and answer questions from the public. [Watch their full presentation in the attached videos.]

Of the 50 residents in attendance, the majority of those who expressed an opinion on hiring a town manager were against the idea.

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“To say that we’re going to continue the Town Meeting form of government but we’re not going to be electing the person running the town on the day-to-day basis is an oxymoron,” Matt Grimes said. “In the Town Meeting form of government the voters have the final say, they can check the board of selectmen… The voters should decide when it’s time for new blood.”

A town manager, as Hart explained, would be an at-will employee, meaning that the BOS would have the discretion to terminate the manager at any time, with cause.

“All you need is to have the votes and it needs to be done within the terms of the contract,” he said.

Grimes also offered the Commission research showing that voter participation tends to wane after towns adopt a Town Manager format, typically dropping from mid-40 percent to the low 20s.

“We need to be doing things that increase participation,” he said.

“I think we have enough talent in this town and enough intelligent people to run this town by ourselves,” David Frankel offered, adding the current economic climate as a factor, as well. “If we could find a volunteer town manager, I might have a different opinion of it, but the town is operating quite well as it is.”

Resident Pamela Kurtz suggested that it is the various town department heads that are responsible for the day-to-day management of the town’s affairs and that the first selectman is merely the conduit for that.

“If the heads of the individual departments, which have very specific tasks in town, are competent and running their departments efficiently, I don’t understand why we need another layer,” she said. “The town should be able to run whether or not there is a first selectman… The function of the first selectman is basically to oversee and coordinate with the heads.”

“I can see a lot of the pros and cons of a Town Manager form of government,” Bob Belden said, however, “You don’t change your form of government unless there is a burning bridge; you don’t stepwise change government just because it’s a good idea — there better be a good reason.”

Belden contended that the town has been well represented by its first selectmen since the Town Charter was adopted in 1975 and asked the CRC to comment on the question of ‘why now?’

Commission member David Propper offered that the town was “treading water,” rather than watching a bridge burn, “and I think this town can do better,” he said.

Propper said that before he began researching the position, he was unaware that there were college degrees in public administration specifically oriented to professional management of municipalities.

“We already do have the functionality of a town manager, it’s called the first selectman,” he said. “I’d rather have that done by a professional,” with a professional education.

Others were in favor of the proposal, such as resident Chris Lynch, who said he has seen the Town Manager style work well in a number of towns and counties in New Jersey and New York.

“Hands down, without question municipalities that are run by town managers are run more efficiently and professionally,” he said. “It allows the CEO of the community [first selectman] to manage from more of a macro level rather than being in the trenches. A professional administrator is just that, a professional administrator.”

While many of those who expressed an opinion were in opposition, the majority of comments were questions of procedure and delineation of duties.

Jerry Friedrich suggested that the town put off amending the charter to include a town manager and instead “try it out and see if it works for the town,” as “once it’s in the charter it will be mandated” and difficult to overturn.

The CRC will continue to meet twice a month to finalize their recommendations and asked residents to continue giving their input, either at the regular meetings through the Commission’s email (CRC@BrookfieldCT.gov).


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