This story by Liberty Darr first appeared in The Citizen on April 6.
Is a town manager in Charlotte’s future?
A resident-led petition to change to a town manager form of government is gaining traction, with over 200 signatures in favor of the switch.
The idea arose at a recent meeting at the Charlotte Senior Center that Jim Faulkner, chair of the selectboard, characterized as “a very difficult meeting” where residents were “very critical of the selectboard. It was a very disappointing event for me to go through that.”
Although the petition garnered enough signatures to force a town vote, the group agreed to come before the selectboard April 17 to discuss what this could mean for the town, hear public feedback and offer details about how to implement such a change.
With town administrator Dean Bloch leaving in October, proponents of the change say it’s an ideal time to shift to a town manager.
“It’s a good opportunity to take a look at the whole question of the governance of the town before we enter into another contract with somebody else to do it for however many years. It’s an opportunity that seems to us isn’t one that should be missed,” said Jim Hyde, a proponent of the change.
A town manager acts as a chief administrative officer and has direct duties and authority laid out in statute. A town administrator does not have the same authority and is governed more directly by a selectboard.
“(The selectboard) can delegate as little or as much as they want within the law, of course,” Rick McGuire, search consultant with Vermont League of Cities and Towns, said. “But the town manager’s position is spelled out very specifically under state law and that outlines all the powers and duties.”
Hyde said the intention of the petition is not to usurp the selectboard’s power, but to bring in somebody with a background and experience in management, HR, budgeting and finance and give them the responsibility and authority for doing the legwork in service to the selectboard.
Hyde also questioned whether this could expedite meeting times that sometimes last close to four hours, and which often focus on the minutiae of routine issues rather than honing in on the big issues the town currently faces: the budget, development and updated land use regulations.
“If you look at the agenda for March 27, that agenda was full of things, that seem to me, a town manager could easily deal with,” he said. “It goes on and on for an hour and a half, and this is at a time when they had really serious things that they have to address and deal with. I think that changing the form of government might free up time for the selectboard to focus on some of the really big policy questions that the town is interested in.”
Some members of the selectboard were unhappy about the way residents have gone about promoting the petition. Instead of relying on guidance from the selectboard, residents have rallied their cause on social media and by word of mouth.
Faulkner explained that he was notified about the gathering of petitioners at the senior center only two hours prior to the meeting.
“I think this is a good discussion about going to a town manager or not,” member Louise McCarren said. “But I am very unhappy with the way it has been brought forth.”
Faulkner also stressed the need to assess costs associated with the switch, especially at a time when the town has pinched pennies to pass a budget.
“I don’t know all the ins and outs of that,” he said. “That’s something we have to research out but the important thing to me more anything else, a town manager may be the right thing, but we don’t know that, do we? I mean, this is a worse time to think about increasing costs on anything in town here. We’re really working like a dog to go the other way.”