Town Administrator or Town Manager?

We originally published the following article in January 2009 that discussed the differences between a Town Manager and a Town Administrator. We bring it up again as there are times when we wonder:  do we have a Town Administrator that functions as a Town Manager?

It seems that as weeks go by the BoS rely more and more on the ‘Town Administrator’ to provide them with direction and even policy.  He serves at the pleasure and direction of the BoS, but if the role is evolving to a Town Manager the law requires that the legislative body (you and I) approve that at town meeting. A “defacto” Town Manager avoids that requirement and that is just not right.

 Just last week at the Board of Selectmen meeting, Betsey Patten offered her concern that the Master Plan Implementation Committee should be under the Land Use Office and not the Board of Selectmen. During a healthy discussion (for once!) amongst the selectmen, with some actual disagreement, our Town Administrator interrupted with a ‘If I may” and proceeded with a diatribe that misconstrued the facts. This clearly swayed some members of the select board to go forward with a vote, rather than to table it and seek further meetings with the Planning Board in order to make a much better and informed decision.

Think about this for a moment: the Master Plan was developed over many months with many volunteers and is a 10 year dynamic document. The Board of Selectmen (three of them anyway) took the Town Administrator’s comments at face value and rushed this decision through.

We see nothing wrong and everything right with the Board asking for more information, especially when it comes to the Master Plan.

Who’s running this town anyway?  

Is Moultonboro moving toward a Town Manager?

In order to have a town manager, the voters must adopt the provisions of RSA Chapter 37 at an annual meeting. The question must be included on the warrant.

 In the following minutes from the Selectmen budget workshop of 1/9/2009, it is being suggested that the “Town Administrator being delegated day to day line authority over the CEO (Code Enforcement Officer) and Director.”  Carter Terenzini proposed in the 12/10/2008 workshop to create an Office of Development & Inspectional Services (ODIS). At that meeting the CEO expressed his strong feelings that the CEO be independent and report only to the Selectmen.  We would agree. The Selectmen are after all elected officials and ultimately should have authority directly over this important function.  A Town Administrator serves at the whim of the Selectmen and unlike a Town Manager has no statutory authority (RSA Chapter 37).  Most importantly the voters of Moultonboro have not been heard.