Early Development of the Manager Plan
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.
There is little doubt that distinct reasons existed in each community for the adoption of the manager plan. A Bureau of Public Administration survey conducted during 1968 revealed eight developmental factors which help explain the previous growth of the manager plan in Maine (Forster & Dunham. 1968). Much of the material presented in this section has been extracted from that survey.
These factors may be summarized as:
(1) relief of overburdened selectmen,
(2) need for more effective government,
(3) satisfaction with the plan in surrounding communities,
(4) experiment with the town agent system,
(5) establishment of the emergency municipal finance board,
(6) the enabling act of 1939,
(7) pressure from local individuals or groups and
(8) political scientists in Maine.