The Charlotte selectboard on Monday set the date for two public hearings in January to consider a town manager form of government.
But the board’s chair, James Faulkner, made it clear that he is not happy with the way the matter has been pushed by “private persons.”
Dissatisfied with the status quo, a group of Charlotte residents submitted a petition in August to change how the town is governed. Led by two former selectboard members, they are seeking to reduce the selectboard’s scope of responsibility by shifting to a town manager form of government. The town currently employs a town administrator to assist the selectboard.
With roughly 200 people backing the effort, they succeeded in getting the signatures required to put the question on the ballot for Town Meeting Day in March.
But the months-long saga, which has unfolded over a number of public meetings extensively chronicled by The Charlotte News and The Citizen, has ruffled feathers among the town’s five selectboard members, who have questioned the need for the change.
At this week’s meeting, Faulkner took issue with a recent op-ed in the Charlotte News written by a town manager proponent because he said it sounded like the selectboard is behind the change.
“The selectboard, as you know, was not in favor of having a town manager. Now that may change over time,” he said. “We were unanimous in the fact that we did not want to go through the process.”
Lane Morrison, one of the two former selectboard members who submitted the petition, said the goal is to find “somebody with a lot of experience to reduce the workload of the selectboard.”
Town governance is complex, he said, noting that Charlotte has new expenses, a new town garage, budget issues, complicated housing and zoning matters and needs to better configure its fire and rescue operations. “A lot of this work can be done by a town manager to allow the selectboard to focus on larger issues.”
Responding to Faulkner’s comments, he continued, “We are disappointed we are considered a private group. We are voters and we are taxpayers and we’re trying to help support the selectboard.”
At the August meeting, the four members who were present voted not to vote on the matter although that has no bearing on the viability of the petition.
Five percent – or 166 – votes are needed to require the town vote, per Vermont statute. The 185 signatures fulfills this in the Chittenden County town of 3,327 registered voters, town officials said.
Selectboard member Kelly Devine told VTDigger she wishes the petitioners had worked on the matter with the selectboard instead of submitting the petition.
“Ballot items for March don’t need to be submitted until January of 2024,” she said in an October email. “I’m confused as to why the group petitioning felt urgency to move forward without Selectboard support. We had time to examine this further. Having it be advisory would have tasked the town with exploring the options and reporting back to the Town.”
Other board members did not respond to requests for comment.
Morrison told VTDigger he and other petitioners have been discussing the matter in open meetings in front of the selectboard long before submitting it. The timing of the petition was engineered to give the board several months to discuss and tweak it, he said.
In a concession to the selectboard, petitioners also modified the petition before submission to maintain the highway commissioner as an elected position that reports to the board, Morrison said. Under a town manager form of government, the town manager effectively becomes the road commissioner.
Making that change to the town manager’s duties, however, requires that the town update its lapsed charter and submit it to the Legislature for approval, he said.
The vote will take place on March 5 by Australian or secret ballot. There will be one article on the Town Meeting ballot to cover both the charter and the town manager vote, Morrison said.
If the measure passes, the town would need to develop a charter and send it to the Legislature for approval within 30 to 60 days, Morrison said. The town did have an approved charter, but it included a sunset clause.
Manager or administrator?
Several Chittenden County towns have moved to a town manager form of government as their populations have grown. The defining feature of that form of municipal governance is that a manager oversees operations and staff, acts as the purchasing agent and administers the policies set by the selectboard, according to Vermont statute.
“The big difference between manager and administrator is that the manager form of government is codified in statute,” said Ted Brady, executive director of the Vermont League of Cities and Towns via email. “The manager has specific powers that state statute delegates from the town’s legislative body to the manager. Administrators are much more flexible – and the selectboard directs what they do or don’t do.”
As of August, there were 43 town administrators and 43 town managers statewide, according to the League’s database. There are 95 municipalities in Vermont that have either a town manager or a town administrator, he said, and size often dictates the decision. Some positions may be vacant and some might identify other roles in town as their primary job, he added.
“Administrator functions vary greatly by town. Manager functions generally do not vary from town to town,” as what they do is laid out in statute, Brady said.
According to 68 responses received in a survey, municipalities with more than 5,000 residents almost always retain a municipal manager (16 to 3) while those with fewer than 5,000 appear to evenly split between the two options (25 to 24), Brady said.
In a town-commissioned 16-page report, former Shelburne town manager and Charlotte resident Lee Krohn presented the pros and cons of both types of governance in July.
Neighboring towns of Shelburne (population 6,000) and Hinesburg (4,700) both have town managers and have made the switch in recent years. Morristown (5,400) overwhelmingly voted for the change in August and has hired its first town manager, according to the News & Citizen.
In Charlotte, support for a town manager system depends on who you ask.
Ruth Uphold, who signed the petition, said she doesn’t think the selectboard is doing a good job. “I think they need help and I think a town manager as opposed to administrator would be a step in the right direction,” she said.
Uphold said she has voiced her concern at board meetings. She takes particular issue with a budget “so poor that it got voted down” in March, the town spending $3 million on a new town garage, and the board canceling (in person) Town Meeting this year “even though the majority of towns had their Town Meetings.”
Others said the board has issues with transparency, professionalism, focus and that meetings often run longer than two hours, which is not ideal.
Alexa Lewis, who is on the town’s development review board and is the deputy tree warden, also signed the petition.
She said it’s important for town governments to have “certain skill sets” to ensure good management, prioritization of the issues facing the town and proper follow up. “I wasn’t seeing that happening,” she said.
A member of the town’s park oversight committee, Peter Richardson said he was involved in the petition effort and supports it. While the selectboard works hard and has many responsibilities, it is composed of lay people who are not professional municipal officials, he said.
Given the volume of issues Charlotte is facing, he said, there is “a raging need for somebody who has the background and authority to tend to them.”
While longtime administrator Dean Bloch was a “diligent administrator,” he deferred to the board for decisions, Richardson added. In his view, board members have struggled to handle controversial issues, becoming “mired in endless conversation and a dearth of decision making.”
Others say such a sweeping change is not needed for a small town of less than 4,000.
“To me it’s almost crazy. We have enough on our plate already,” said Bill Stuono, a former planning commission member.
Charlotte has about 10 full-time town employees and some part-time or seasonal staff, which means that there aren’t a lot of employees to report to a town manager, he said. The town clerk and library already have their own supervisory structure; there are no police, public works or municipal fire and rescue departments, nor water and sewer systems in Charlotte.
“We’re still essentially a rural town,” Stuono said.
Switching to a town manager would entail reworking how the town is run, would require developing a charter, and would incur added costs including the town manager’s salary and a possible assistant, he added.
“Any benefits, if there are actually any, are far outweighed by the negatives and the complexities in changing the structure,” Stuono said.
