SANFORD — Three people were named at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting who will lead Sanford’s transition from Maine’s largest town to its newest city.
Those members of the Transition Committee – Councilors Anne Marie Mastraccio, Brad Littlefield and Maura Herlihy – will concern themselves primarily with deciding how they and their peers will appoint members of a new seven-person budget committee, as well as set a process for engaging the public in the annual budget process.
“Those were elements in the new charter that were intentionally left to the discretion of council, so that they or future councils could make updates as needed without having to rewrite the Charter,” said Town Manager Steven Buck.
The new charter, which passed with 55.4 percent of the vote Nov. 6, takes effect Jan. 1.
“It’s my goal, as well as my responsibility as chairman, to make sure that the changeover is as smooth and seamless as possible,” said council Chairman Alan Walsh, who made the appointments.
The new budget committee, which will include three city councilors and four residents, replaces the current 11-person version, of whom nine were elected by the public. Because the new charter does away with town meeting, empowering the City Council with all legislative powers, including adoption of the annual $20.3 million budget, Walsh says its important to assure that the public is kept fully informed throughout the process.
Residents will get to weigh in on the municipal spending plan late next spring in a referendum to be held in conjunction with the annual school budget validation vote. That makes effective public communication a key component of the process, said Buck, in part because all Sanford residents will have a say. Under the old charter, Sanford held Maine’s only representative town meeting, with 105 elected representatives empowered to amend the budget.
As with the school budget, voters will not be able to amend the documents. If they should vote it down, the city would operate under spending limits in its previous budget on a month-to-month basis, with all line items prorated accordingly, until a new budget is adopted.
Apart from budgeting season, there is one change wrought by Sanford’s upgrade to city status that will be evident year-round. That’s the creation of an elected mayor, who, beyond the usual ceremonial functions incumbent in the post, will sit as council chairman.
An interim mayor will be chosen from among council members in January to serve until the first election in November 2013. Already, Walsh has said he plans to throw his hat in the ring for the right to call himself the first mayor of Sanford.
“Absolutely, I plan to at least put in my name, although I can’t say what will happen,” he said Wednesday. “I feel it’s important to have a someone with recent leadership experience during the first year under the new charter.”
Next November, when the terms of Littlefield and Ken Burgess expire, one seat will be designated for the mayor, while the other will remain a three-year council position. After serving three years to Dec. 31, 2016, the mayor’s post will revert to a two-year term, with a limit of no more than three full terms to be served consecutively.
Then, in 2016, the terms of the three councilors who won election Tuesday –Walsh, Richard Wilkins and Fred Smith – will also change. At that time, one of the three will be shortened to a single year, before reverting to a three-year term in 2017. That will ensure that, from that point on, two of the six council seats will be up for re-election every year.
The new mayor is slated to make “not more than 25 percent above what councilors make.” The council annually sets its own rate of pay per the charter, currently clearing $4,000 each. That would make the mayoral stipend $5,000 – or, what the council chairman is now paid.
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