Fundamentally, the Maine manager plan channels direction and control of municipal administration through a single manager, who is appointed by and responsible to the elected municipal legislative and/or executive body.

There are several manifestations of the manager plan in Maine. Most prevalent, particularly in towns from 2,000 to 5,000 in population, is the town meeting-selectmen-manager form in which the town meeting is the municipal legislative body and the board of selectmen is the executive body. Towns and cities over 5,000 in population tend to have the council-manager form with all powers of the municipality vested in a small elected council. Prevalent to a lesser extent is the town meeting-council-manager form in municipalities with populations under 10,000. Under this structure, executive and some legislative powers of the town are vested in a small elected council; other powers may be centered in the town meeting. Another variation of the manager plan, found in municipalities over 10,000 in population, is the mayor-council-administrator form of government in which the administrator works under a part-time elected mayor. A category of local government developed since 1970 is the town meeting-selectmen-administrative assistant in which the board of selectmen serves as the administrative branch of government but employs an assistant to carry out some administrative functions.

The Maine manager plan seems to conform to the council-manager model in some ways. Maine councils or boards of selectmen are generally small bodies, elected at-large, and on a non-partisan basis. These bodies appoint a manager, who is responsible for administration and serves at the pleasure of that body.

There have been and continue to be variations from the basic features of the reformers' original model. First, a number of council-manager municipalities have district oriented or elected councilors and some have separately elected mayors. Though contrary to the traditional council-manager theory, this does not seem to be detrimental to the operation of the manager plan in Maine. There is a growing body of thought that district-oriented councilors and separately elected-mayors, without administrative duties, may be appropriate methods to strengthen citizen representation and political leadership in some communities. [See Joseph F. Zimmerman's "Political Alienation and the Electoral System," Address delivered at the National Conference on Government, Portland, Oregon, August 25, 1970.] Indeed, there is growing evidence, as reported in Chapter 4, that communities nationwide are moving in the same direction.

Second, under the town meeting-council-manager and the town meeting-selectmen-manager forms, legislative and administrative powers are not really unified in the council or the board of selectmen. In the former case, general legislative powers are shared with the town meeting, while in the latter instance they are vested entirely in the town meeting. Under either form, policy matters may need to be deferred to regular or special town meetings. If not, there is the risk that programs developed by the selectmen or council and the manager may be curtailed or eliminated by town meeting. This deference to the town meeting may inhibit decisive action, long-range programming, and may even affect ability to direct policy direction for boards of selectmen and councils under these forms.

Finally, under all these forms, the manager's appointing authority and control over some financial officers tend to be limited, because key subordinates may be separately appointed by the selectmen or council or even separately elected. In some town meeting communities, selectmen themselves may have administrative duties. Despite some of the differences from the model manager plan, the various implementations of the manager plan in Maine have provided effective municipal administration.

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