I strongly agree with Dick Weader's comment about not considering an elected town manager, "...the only qualification being getting one more vote than the other candidate (just like a city)." There is no quarantee that ANY qualified candidates would be willing to compete in a public forum (as Doug suggested). Please note that during the last city vs. town campaign, one of the major discussion points was that an elected mayor (or in this suggestion, elected town manager) does not have to have any professional training or experience. To compensate for this we could need to hire additional administrative staff/managers to do the work while your elected leader "leads".
We also narrow the pool of potential town managers significantly by having to elect one locally (and don't start in about how our Town Manager is local - we started by casting a wider net). And you also narrow the field by hoping to find someone both competent professionally and willing to compete in the political arena. I can't imagine that we could attract a qualified professional to run for an elected town manager position by offering a lower salary. We now have a hired Town Manager and an elected Board of Selectmen. We elect this Board to lead (what did Rene say, "Lead, or get out of the way"?). If citizens think the Town Manager is not filling vacancies in a timely manner, the appropriate route (after telling him directly) is to speak to his bosses - the Board of Selectmen, so they can set policy and direct the manager. So my contribution to the discussion of the ConCom appointments is to encourage continuation of this online discussion, communicate directly with the Town Manager, and talk with one or more of your Selectmen. There are much more direct solutions to these concerns that jumping back on the "city" (or quasi-city) bandwagon. (By the way, we obviously have spoken to the Town Manager and Selectmen indirectly through these lists...) Norma Shulman Precinct 3 ------------ On 7/19/03 10:16 AM, "Douglas Freeman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: The office of town manager would become attractive to qualified candidates that would compete in the public forum, ... the elected town manager would be a full-time employee of the town... and could be offered a salary set by town meeting that could easily be less than what is presently paid. ... would still attract capable, qualified individuals with both administrative and political skills to seek this important office. -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body "unsubscribe frambors" (the subject is ignored).
