[B]ENNINGTON — A proposal to change Bennington’s system of government — substituting an elected mayor for a town manager hired by the town — drew strong opinions, most opposed to the move, at a public hearing on Monday.
About 60 residents attended the hearing, the first of two the town Selectboard is required to hold before a binding referendum on March 6.
The question on the March 6 ballot will be whether the town should replace the town manager, a hired position, with an elected mayor, with a veto provision.
Selectboard Chairman Thomas Jacobs said members of the board would wait until after the second hearing on Feb. 5 to comment. Now, he said, was the time for the public to have its say.
The public had its say Monday night. Bennington resident Justin Woodie said, “the events of the last few months have have made it obvious that, now more than ever, it is time for a new direction in Bennington.”
He and other speakers referred repeatedly to Town Manager Stuart Hurd’s decision last year to approve the construction of a large salt shed before taking receipt of the required state wetlands work permit. The town faces possible fines by the Agency of Natural Resources.
Resident Joey Kulkin called on the “silent majority” of residents to vote for the mayoral plan.
“This is the opportunity we have been waiting for,” he said. “Now the power in our hands.”
Kulkin said Hurd “breaking the law” with his salt shed decision, and the board’s failure to respond, should persuade voters change is needed.
Also supporting the switch to an elected mayor was William Stewart, who said it would eliminate a situation in which “no one is held accountable.”
A mayor “gives the community a face” and an elected official “will be responsible,” he said.
But other speakers defended the town’s form of government, even as they criticized Hurd’s action on the salt shed.
“I do think Stu may have made a mistake,” said Douglas Krause of the town manager, who has held the position for more than 25 years.
But echoing several speakers who were critical of the proposed “strong mayor” format, Krause pointed out that under the current system the Selectboard has the power to remove a manager, with 90 days notice — while a mayor could be ousted only in the next election.
Al Bashevki, a town resident for 30 years, said he has seen the town government deal with many issues, including closing the former landfill, responding to Tropical Storm Irene flooding, and PFOA contamination of local wells.
“Maybe we can tweak it,” he said of the current format, but a change from a professionally trained and hired manager to a mayor elected in “a popularity contest,” and not necessarily knowing how to run a government, he said, did not sound like an improvement.
Melissa Currier, Bennington’s finance director, raised the possibility of an elected official not being able to manage a town without significant staff assistance.
The person would need to be trained, “which would slow down tremendously” the work of the staff, she said, “and that would all come at great expense to the taxpayers.”
And, Currier said, depending on the outcome of the next election, the training process might have to start all over again. Several speakers said they feel more comfortable with a professional hired by the Selectboard managing the town, especially as the board both hires and can fire the person with notice.
Lora Block agreed, saying the town needed professional management, and that to “suddenly change” the entire government format would imperil ongoing projects like the Putnam Block redevelopment plan for the downtown.
