Pressure from Local Individuals or Groups
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.
In most Maine towns, an individual or group spearheaded the drive to adopt the manager plan. It has already been seen that the selectmen were an influential group in some instances. A second group which played an important role in promoting the manager plan in and around Maine's larger communities, was the local Chamber of Commerce. This is not surprising, since the Chamber is a business-oriented group, acquainted with the need for good administration. In one instance, the Chamber of Commerce in Houlton organized over 25 groups including the Democratic and Republican Town Committees, the Elks, the Rotary Club, the Music Club, and the Women's Christian Temperance Union to canvass the town in support of a town manager plan.
In other towns, a newspaper publisher, business leader, or farmer carried on a lonely campaign until more general support could be raised. In Camden, A. E. Robbins, publisher of the Camden Herald, editorialized in favor of a manager plan for three years before the plan was adopted.