Should Southborough have a TOWN MANAGER and 5 PERSON BOARD OF

							   Should Southborough have a
      TOWN MANAGER and
5 PERSON BOARD OF SELECTMEN?



Public Forum held by the Southborough Drafting Committee for Town Manager Legislation
            The Committee website : www.southboroughdctml.weebly.com

                                September 14, 2011
                                                              HISTORY
2006: The Town Meeting in January created a Town Governance Study Committee whose charge was to
      “review the structure of Town government and make recommendations to the 2007 Annual Town
      Meeting.”

2007: This Committee’s report made recommendations for changes to the Town’s governance, including the
      recommendation of creating of a Town Manager position.
             #1: Town Manager/ Home Rule Charter
             #2: Increase the Board of Selectmen to 5
             #3: Hire a Human Resources Specialist
             #4: Make procedural changes to Annual Town Meeting


2010: A group of Southborough residents signed a petition to place an Article on the Warrant of the 2011
      Annual Town Meeting that would create a Drafting Committee for Town Manager Legislation.

      Article 33: To see if the Town will act to create a Committee of five members, “The Drafting Committee for Town Manager
      Legislation”, appointed by the Moderator, to draft special municipal legislation whose purpose shall be to enact a Town
      Manager form of government with an elected Board of Selectmen, consisting of five persons, this Committee to present
      the proposed legislation in a Warrant for consideration by the Annual Town Meeting of 2012, or such earlier Special Town
      Meeting as may arise; further, to raise and appropriate or transfer a sum of money for the purpose of providing legal
      counsel to said Committee, or do or act anything in relation
      thereto.http://www.southboroughtown.com/townclerk/2011TownWarrant.pdf

2011 Warrant Article 33 passed at Town Meeting by Majority Vote
2011 Committee Appointed by David Combs:
             Joseph Lanning, Chair
             Janet Maney, Co-Chair
             Janice Conlin
             Lee Bartolini
             Marnie Hoolahan
COMPS          Form of Gov’t        Population   Annual Gen’l Fund
                                    (July ’09)   Expenditures/per
                                                 capita
Ashland        Home Rule Charter    ~16,593      $53.6 Million
               5 Selectmen                       $3,232 per capita
               Town Manager
               Open Town Meeting
Hopkinton      Home Rule Charter    ~14,925      $57 Million
               5 Selectmen                       $3,825 per capita
               Town Manager
               Open Town Meeting
Northborough   Home Rule Charter    ~14,155      $55.9 Million
               5 Selectmen                       $3,102 per capita
               Town Manager
               Open Town Meeting
Southborough   By-Laws              ~9,700       $40.9 Million
               3 Selectmen                       $4,191 per capita
               Town Administrator
               Open Town Meeting
Westborough    Home Rule Charter    ~18,272      $73 Million
               5 Selectmen                       $4,013 per capita
               Town Manager
               Open Town Meeting
                 Process and Timeline
• Conduct Research - Collins Center & Committee
    – Research includes face to face interviews with Southborough officials and employees,
      and solicitation of feedback from Southborough residents through a variety of methods.
• Committee (with Collins Center support) will write the Special draft
  legislation
• Draft Legislation will encompass research conducted.
                                 Questions?
1.   What are the long-term issues facing the Town of Southborough and how do
     you see the town most effectively tackling these challenges?
     What are potential long-term risks?

2.   Are there problems related to the Town structure or organization that directly
     affect the town operationally?
     What about the Town structure or organization is particularly helpful or do you
     believe currently works well?

3.   What do you think would improve the town operationally?
     In particular, are there changes to the Board of Selectmen and Town
     Administrator/Manager position that you think would help your department be
     more effective and/or efficient?
     How would moving to a strong TM affect town government and individual
     departments?
     Think about the same questions related to increasing the BoS from 3 to 5 seats?
                                  Questions?
4.   Thinking in particular about each of the following, are there long-term issues
     related to these items that you would like to see fixed?
     a. Personnel
     b. Communication and collaboration
     c. Budget and finance
     d. Other

5.   How would you describe the level of service that the residents of Southborough
     expect of the Town government?
     Do you think citizen’s expectations are changing or will change in the near
     future?