Town Meeting-Selectmen-Administrative Assistant 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.
The Town Meeting-Selectmen-Administrative Assistant form of government operates in about 8 percent of Maine municipalities. It is most characteristic of smaller communities, since 95% of Administrative Assistants operate in municipalities with populations under 3,000 and over three-quarters under 2,000 in population. While technically an administrative variation of the town meeting-selectmen form of government, it has become increasingly popular in Maine. Although in some municipalities the administrative assistant performs many of the same duties as a manager, the board of selectmen has final administrative authority. In many cases the town meeting-selectmen-administrative assistant form has replaced the town meeting-selectmen-form, with the administrative assistant serving as the tax collector, treasurer, and clerk. The reasons for a municipality to change to an administrative assistant form of government vary widely, but some general observations have been suggested by Michael Starn, Editor of the Maine Townsman:
Growth pressures, the increasing complexities of government, and the time commitment required of selectmen have all contributed to the decision in a number of small communities to explore the alternative forms of government available to them. For those communities deciding to create an administrative assistant position, the underlying reason has been a reluctance to make the jump from a selectmen/town meeting to a selectmen/manager/town meeting form of government...those communities opting for the selectmen/administrative assistant have felt that this arrangement gives selectmen and townspeople more control over the affairs of town government (Starn, October 1987, pp. 11-14).
Regardless of the underlying reason to adopt the town meeting-selectmen-administrative assistant form of government, the significant number of adoptions since 1985 (1/3 of the total) indicates the trend is likely to continue.