The Town Meeting Form
This document is reprinted with permission from "The Manager Plan in Maine" published by the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy. Copies of the complete book may be obtained by calling the Center at (207) 581-1646.
Since colonial times, the town meeting has been the fundamental form of local government in New England. Today in Maine, most cities and towns still operate under the town meeting form of government or a modified version of it. Under the town meeting form, citizens take direct part in municipal law making and in authorizing the levy of taxes. Maine annual town meetings traditionally have been held in March. Special town meetings also may be called from time to time. The major functions of the annual town meeting are: to elect officers, to act on local legislative matters, such as adoption of ordinances, to adopt the town budget and to debate other matters deserving the attention of the town (Dow, 1963, p.. 4).
The executive agency of town government is an elected, part-time board of selectmen having three, five or seven members. Between sessions the board of selectmen interprets the policy set at the town meeting and is assigned numerous duties including: approving all town non-school expenditures, authorizing highway construction and repair, serving as town purchasing agent for non-school items, issuing licenses and overseeing the conduct of all town activities. Often the part-time selectmen also serve as town assessors, overseers of the poor as well as road commissioners. Generally, there are other elected town officers whose duties are specified in law. These may include: clerk, assessors, tax collector, treasurer, school committee, constables, and others.
Over the years, the town meeting form has been criticized for several reasons. One reason cited is that growing citizen apathy and failure to participate in an institution premised on democratic participation have resulted in policy decisions made by only a few of the town's citizens, particularly those who have a personal interest in the particular policy under consideration (Stitely, 1964). Conversely, in larger towns there may be difficulties in operating a town meeting when a large group of citizens does attend. In addition, there is the question as to whether a town meeting is capable of adequately deliberating town financial matters due to the increasing complexity and magnitude of town budgets (Bonsey, 1967, p. 11).
There also are concerns about the effective administration of town government under a part-time, plural executive body, the selectmen. Professor Dow wrote:
As an executive body they are hampered because:
(1) they lack clear-cut authority over other town officials, many of whose duties and
powers are laid down by law;
(2) no board can act as a true executive because it is many-headed, all members
having equal power;
(3) it is a part-time board;
(4) the members are amateurs at least until they gain experience (1963, p. 4).
Professor Hormell, in his classic study of Maine towns (Hormell, 1932, pp. 17-25), cited the following three devices used to modify the town meeting form to correct some of these difficulties.
Finance, warrant or budget committee. First adopted in Maine by Brunswick in 1902, the finance committee is a number of elected or appointed citizens who either participate in budget preparation or investigate a proposed town budget and thereby make recommendations on the budget to the town meeting. The use of the finance committee device has been widespread in Maine.
The limited or representative town meeting. Basically, the limited town meeting consists of persons elected from each of several districts to attend the town meeting. Any voter may speak at the town meeting but only the elected representative may vote. The limited town meeting was adopted by three Maine towns: Sanford, Old Orchard Beach and Caribou. Today only Sanford continues the limited town meeting. The finance committee and the limited town meeting approaches in part have been efforts to surmount mechanical and deliberative problems with the town meeting. Neither materially improves day-to-day town administration.
The manager plan. Under the manager plan, the board of selectmen hires a qualified full-time manager to administer the various duties of the board. The manager serves at the pleasure of the selectmen and may be given authority to appoint other personnel of the town. The manager plan has been widely adopted in Maine as a means to provide some central direction and control of town affairs. In many towns, it has been combined with the finance committee device.