Charlotters seek town manager government

The Charlotte residents who are circulating a petition to change to a town manager form of government spoke before the selectboard Monday night to offer details on how to implement the change.

The idea arose at a recent meeting at the Charlotte Senior Center that Jim Faulkner, chair of the selectboard, characterized as “a very difficult meeting” where residents were “very critical of the selectboard. It was a very disappointing event for me to go through that.”

At the Monday night meeting, Lane Morrison, who had been chair of the selectboard for almost six years before calling it quits three years ago, has remained intently involved in town affairs, especially during this year’s budget discussions and other weighty matters before the board.

“We talked about this as citizens in early March,” he said. “(Town administrator) Dean (Bloch) is retiring, I think it’s time to consider a town manager for the town. Things are getting more complicated. I’ve talked to maybe 100 people. I’ve talked to our neighbors in Hinesburg and Shelburne, and it’s worked very well.”

The group has worked to consult attorneys and other local town officials and selectboard members to help outline a way forward. They have argued that with the important issues facing the town, it might be beneficial to bring in somebody with a background and experience in management, human resources, budgeting and finance and give them the responsibility and authority for doing the legwork in service to the selectboard.

Morrison, along with former planning commission chair Peter Joslin and development review board chair Charlie Russell, questioned whether this could expedite meeting times that sometimes last close to four hours that often focus on the minutiae of routine issues rather than honing in on the big issues the town currently faces, he said.

“They’re no more costly than a town administrator because of the functions they can perform,” he said. “They can actually save the town money by having less consultants and with the experience of a town manager, they can take on some ... of the duties of selectboard and in the long run save money.”

The town has until October to find a suitable replacement for Bloch, but like Faulkner mentioned, “part of this issue that we’re dealing with is we have a time crunch.”

The town has not yet begun the search for the new town administrator and Faulkner hopes to have someone in the position by August to work with Bloch until his departure. According to a recruitment services proposal from Vermont League of Cities and Towns, it is estimated to take the town 12-16 weeks to hire a new administrator.

Steps include preparing recruitment and advertising plans, screening applications and planning interviews. With help from league, it could cost the town upwards of $12,000 for the entire process.

Faulkner argues that the process could be done another way.

“My thought is that we have four months to find somebody, and I’m not sure (Vermont League of Cities and Towns) is the answer either on doing that for us. I think we have a lot of skill here in town that we might go to manage that ourselves.”

With the search so pressed, Faulkner questioned if it could be beneficial to first hire a town administrator who could work toward switching to the manager role.

“I would like to see if we could find an individual that could work as an administrator and work on up to that point once the public understands all the pros and cons of the manager and how it works,” he said.

Rick McGuire, search consultant with Vermont League of Cities and Towns, explained that a town manager acts as a chief administrative officer and has direct duties and authority laid out in statute. A town administrator does not have the same authority and is governed more directly by a selectboard.

“(The selectboard) can delegate as little or as much as they want within the law, of course,” Rick McGuire, search consultant with Vermont League of Cities and Towns, said. “But the town manager’s position is spelled out very specifically under state law and that outlines all the powers and duties.”

Morrison explained that there are two ways to implement the change. One way is through a charter change, and the other is simply through accordance with the state statute.

“Either one of those requires a town vote, but a charter is more complicated and takes more time,” he said. “The state statute, which would be a straight petition, listed three or four pages of the (town manager) duties but it really says the key point here is the town manager is to perform all duties now conferred by law upon the selectboard.”

Although the petition has garnered enough votes to force a town wide vote, those charging the petition have agreed to wait for a larger informational meeting, at the request of the selectboard, that will happen sometime in May in order to hear more public feedback.

“You have a selectboard who is willing to be engaged until we can figure it out,” Faulkner said. “What I’m asking, more than anything else, is just don’t pull the trigger on the petition until we get a little bigger handle on the changes that will be made. It’s not comfortable when we hear people who’ve done something behind closed doors. I just have no interest in that at all.”