Michael Faller: Understanding Article 23 in Meredith with a comparison

To The Daily Sun,

At this year’s Town Meeting, readers will be asked to vote on Article 23. Article 23 is an advisory article that seeks the town’s opinion on making a change in our town government model by eliminating the town manager position and replacing it with a town administrator.

The two models can easily be compared.

Not widely understood is that a town manager operates under state statute RSA 37 which defines the authority bestowed upon a town manager. This means that the town manager can elect not to follow the recommendations of the selectboard. Said differently, the citizenry of the town elects the selectboard members, and the selectboard members hire the town manager.

Once a town manager is hired, the day-to-day town governance to include committees, budget development, budget execution, hiring and firing of town employees is the exclusive domain of the town manager by state statute and not the individuals that we elect to the selectboard.

As noted above, voting yes to Article 23 is advisory only and does not require the selectboard to take any action, but a clear message will be sent to the board regarding who the citizenry wants to be in charge of town governance.

A town administrator is not a new thing. In fact, 14 towns around the Lakes Region have a town administrator form of government, including Gilford, New Hampton, Holderness, Center Harbor, Moultonborough, Tuftonboro, Alton, Sanbornton, Sandwich, Gilmanton, Belmont, Tilton and Bristol. It works, clearly. The biggest reason why it works is this position works directly for the selectboard who work directly for the citizenry.

The petitioners of Article 23 feel the time has come to seriously consider this move.

Should the vote at this town meeting be in the “affirmative,” the selectboard will be aware of the town’s desire to transition to a town administrator for the 2027 Town Meeting.

Having a town administrator form of government allows for direct oversight and control from the board. Decisions made by the town manager have a direct effect on the town and the selectboard. The board can’t say anything as the town manager has statutory authority. Many times, the board has expressed their desires based on town residents and the town manager does something different. With the town administrator form of government, this will allow the selectboard to control the outcome of decisions made. It sets up a clear level of control and gives the board the authority we all expect.

It's time for that change to happen.

Michael Faller

Meredith