Experiment with the Town Agent
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.
Referenced in early Massachusetts province laws, the term town agent was carried over in Maine law until deleted in 1957 (Massachusetts Province Laws of 1694, Section 29, Section 4 & Moore, 1970, p. 2). The town agent was originally an elected officer who represented the town in legal proceedings. A 1903 statute authorized the selectmen to supervise the town agent with the town to fix the agent's compensation, but this was repealed in 1915 (Revised Statutes of 1954, Chapter 91, Section 1).
Little is known about the specific activities of town agents prior to 1925. In this year, under the leadership of business leaders and summer residents, the town of Camden began an experiment with a town agent whose duties resembled those of a manager. After the apparent success of this move, Camden in 1927 acquired from the legislature a special act charter which, for the first time, merged the manager concept with a town meeting-selectmen framework. Likewise in 1927, the town of Fort Fairfield appointed a town agent and after two years transferred to the town meeting-selectmen-manager form under a special legislative act charter. Between 1930 and 1958, at least 16 other Maine towns prefaced the adoption of the town meeting-selectmen-manager form of government by experimenting with the town agent (Moore, 1970, p. 2).
Certainly a key reason for the use of the town agent device in this manner was its ease of adoption -- by simple vote of the town meeting. Until 1939, the town meeting-selectmen-manager form could be adopted only by securing special act enabling legislation and subsequent affirmative vote of the town. The 1939 enabling act, however, made it possible for towns to adopt the town meeting-selectmen-manager form by vote of the town, thus precluding the need for further use of the town agent device. Nevertheless, several towns adopted and/or used the town agent long after 1939. Hampden was the last town to transfer from the town agent to the town meeting selectmen-manager form in 1958. (Hampden eventually evolved into a council-manager form).
In retrospect, the legal basis for the use of the town agent as a precursor to the town manager is questionable. It is clear, however, that the town agent was a useful transition device prior to 1939. Moreover, in many towns the town agent undoubtedly served to introduce the benefits of central administration where previously there were none.