Clinton’s Charter Revision Commission (CRC) met on June 15 to begin tackling the single biggest question on the group’s agenda: Should Clinton switch from a first selectman to a town manager–town council form of government?

Each member of the nine-person commission had been tasked with researching Connecticut towns that are run—or have been run—by a town manager. Simsbury, Bloomfield, Tolland, Avon, West Hartford, East Hampton, Killingly, and Canton were among the towns examined, and the CRC interviewed key people ranging from new and veteran town managers to town clerks and members of town councils.

Commissioners summarized their key findings at the June 15 meeting.

What Is a Town Manager?

A town manager form of government combines the political leadership of elected officials (a town council) with a professional, politically impartial administrator. This system was designed in response to the notoriously corrupt political machine prevalent in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The goal is to make municipal government more objective, efficient, accountable, and transparent.

All department heads report to the town manager, who is hired by and carries out the policies of an elected town council, the community’s legislative and policymaking body. A town manager whose job performance is not satisfactory to the town council may be terminated.

Only 35 of Connecticut’s 169 towns—about one in five—are run by a town manager or a hybrid of that form of government. The rest are headed by a mayor or first selectman.

“That’s because we’re Yankees,” said CRC commissioner Lynn Hidek, noting an adherence to tradition in the Land of Steady Habits.

Indeed, town managers are much more prevalent in other parts of the country, and recent research from the National League of Cities finds that incorporating structural features from different types of government—especially adding a town manager to the mix—has become common practice. In 2007, about half (more than 3,500) of the 7,171 U.S. cities and towns with populations of 2,500 or more residents operated under a town manager.

Benefits of a Town Manager

The CRC determined one of the biggest benefits to having a town manager is that long-range projects—from brownfields remediation to economic development—gain traction, consistency, and continuity. Because town managers are hired, not elected and possibly unseated every two years, projects started under their leadership are more likely to be completed rather than abandoned or stalled from one election cycle to the next.

“Clinton has a lot of development potential,” said CRC Chairman James Staunton, noting that with continuity in leadership, “a lot can be done to shift from a mostly residential tax base to a better mix of residential and commercial.”

Town managers typically have a master’s degree in public administration and are granted an open contract—which allows for more longevity and a potentially stronger candidate pool than a short-term contract lasting only two or three years. To ensure that their leaders are fully vested in the community, many towns have residency requirements for their town managers, a policy favored by Clinton’s CRC.

“It becomes your town,” said commissioner Karen Marsden.

“You have skin in the game,” added Gary Bousquet.

Commissioner Dennis Donovan reported that in some of the towns examined, including Killingly, while the town manager prepares the budget and presents it to the council, ultimately the town’s voters decide in a referendum whether or not the budget passes. (In many towns, including West Hartford, the manager proposes a budget, and a public hearing is held, but the final decision to adopt the budget falls to the town council—not the town’s residents.)

A system that leaves the question of the budget in voters’ hands was widely supported by the CRC.

Staunton called it “the best of both worlds.”

“But Can We Afford It?”

An idea is only as good as it is affordable—which led the CRC to its next big question: What does a town manager cost?

“We would need to make a commitment to offer competitive pay, because without the right salary, you risk getting poor performance, and then after year one, politics takes over,” said Staunton.

Marsden agreed. “We’d have to cough up the salary.”

East Hampton—which the CRC called comparable to Clinton in terms of population, around 12,000 to 13,000—pays its town manager $123,236 a year. East Hampton’s Michael Maniscalco told Hidek that his compensation package falls slightly below average; the going salary for a manager of a town with 10,000 to 20,000 residents is closer to $129,989, he said.

Clinton’s first selectman’s salary is $80,203.

Pay varies not only by the size of a town but by the scope of a town manager’s duties. Town managers throughout the state have varying degrees and types of responsibility, CRC’s research found. Most rely heavily upon their town attorney, and the majority are in charge of the budget, human resources, and oversight of department managers. Some bear responsibility for areas as diverse as the school bus fleet, board of education, and the hiring of the police chief. A few do double duty as town planners, though Clinton’s CRC believes these key functions should remain separate.

“Clinton can borrow ideas that work for this town,” said Marsden. “I was not in favor of a town manager at first, but it’s not quite as frightening as I thought it would be. It’s refreshing.”

Lynn Hidek will prepare a presentation to share with the town, explaining more about the town manager form of government, how it differs from having a first selectman, and what the possible implications would be for the town’s Board of Finance and other functions. A public hearing on the issue is tentatively planned for August.

Clinton’s current administration, headed by First Selectman Bruce Farmer, would not be impacted by any decision to move to a different form of government.

The Charter Revision Commission’s next meeting is scheduled for July 13.