Warrant Article 15 - Strong Town Administrator
This article asks the Town Meeting to codify and strengthen the
role of the Town Administrator as the town’s chief operating officer. It
represents the recommendation of the Town Government Study Committee, of which
I am a member.
The position of Town Administrator is mentioned in our
bylaws, but the roles, responsibilities and authority are not defined in any
way. This differs from the practice in
most communities and means that each successive Board of Selectmen could in
effect define the position. This is not
good practice and could lead to instability both for the way town operations
are run and in filling the position with highly qualified and skilled
professionals.
The article also seeks to increase the authority of the Town
Administrator in keeping with a widespread trend in municipal government in
Massachusetts.
The dominant form of government in Massachusetts remains the
Town Meeting form. It is hundreds of
years old and is a defining characteristic of the New England region. Its resiliency stems from thoughtful accommodations
to modernity - the changes modern life exerts on self-governance. In the early
decades of the 20th century, the Open Town Meeting gave way to the
Representative Town Meeting in those communities whose populations made the
Open Town Meeting either too unwieldy or not sufficiently representative of a
large community. Beginning in the 1950’s and continuing for 3 decades the trend
toward the professionalization of town governance occurred, as Executive
Secretaries, and Town Administrators and Town Managers assumed the
administrative and operational roles that volunteer Boards of Selectmen
composed of citizens with full time jobs could no longer hope to execute.
The most recent trend finds towns making changes to
centralize authority for town management. The first period of professional town
management saw “weak” Town Administrators with limited authority taking over
some of the functions previously performed by Selectmen. The trend now is to
put nearly all operational authority under the Town Administrator, freeing the
Board of Selectmen to spend the limited amount of time they can devote to
questions of policy and long range planning for the town.
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue strongly supports
this trend. In its 2013 report on the town it said:
“There is a
growing trend in Massachusetts local government favoring a centralized
management approach under the direction of a strong town administrator.
Operating under the board of selectmen’s oversight, an empowered town
administrator handles the bulk of daily management-related activities and can
implement strategy across municipal operations, monitor financial management functions,
and supervise the administration of all departments, boards and committees
outside the jurisdiction of the schools. This model has emerged as the best way
to promote accountability in government because it establishes a strong chain
of command with clear lines of authority. Within this structure, employees have
well-defined roles and responsibilities, tasks can be easily delegated,
collaboration is promoted and encourages efficiency.”
A consultant
from the Municipal Management Association also supported this move before a
joint meeting of the Board of Selectmen and the Town Government Study
Committee.
Another
consulting resource to Massachusetts Communities, The Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at the University
of Massachusetts at Boston echoes the benefits of a strong Town Administrator
in a report it made to the Town of Sherborn.
“…as the elected leaders of the Town’s executive branch, the Board of
Selectmen should have the time and capacity to set policy and direction for the
Town. … Achieving this has grown more
and more difficult, as the increasing complexities of operating a municipal
government and the increasing statutory demands make decision‐making both more
difficult and potentially more consequential. A strengthened Town Administrator
can lift some of the more mundane tasks and decisions
from the Board of Selectmen.”
As for the role this change would open up
for Boards of Selectmen, the Collins Center says:
“…we
believe that the Board of Selectmen should be devoting more time to big‐picture
strategic issues, long‐term planning, and goal‐setting. We believe this as a
general matter for the Town. Additionally, the current Board’s core
competencies and comparative advantages are not being used profitably by
spending time debating the minutiae of the management of the Town’s operations.
Those competencies and advantages could be put to more valuable use thinking
strategically about issues such as long‐term plans for revenue, regionalization
opportunities, the development of performance measures, and other such issues.”
As I’m sure
was the case with past changes to our Town Meeting government, this one will
likely be met with concern by some, and some will even predict disaster. I’ve
already heard concerns expressed that sound very dire. For example, the fear
has been expressed that with the power to appoint the Police Chief, the Town
Administrator could appoint a non-resident to that office, departing from long
standing tradition in our town. But the Board of Selectmen today could appoint
a non-resident to that job, and retaining a veto power on the appointment of
Department heads, as the Selectmen do under this article, represents no real
change. The Board has the ability to set policy and provide the Town
Administrator with direction in hiring. No professional Town Administrator is
going to jeopardize their job making decisions so out of tune with the
community. I’m sure it will not surprise you to discover that Milton is not an
early adopter on these kind of issues. Many communities have gone down this
path without consequential adverse results.
The Town
Government Study Committee, with three former Selectmen and a Town
Administrator of over 30 years, voted unanimously to support this change. The
Warrant Committee voted unanimously to support this change. The current Board of Selectmen, including
newcomer David Burnes, support this change.
I hope my fellow Town Meeting Members will support this change at the
Town Meeting so that we can continue to adapt the Town Meeting form of
government to the changing circumstances of the modern world.
posted by Philip Mathews at 6:02 PM
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