The Colby Echo

Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Local News

Media Credit: Rob Kievit City Hall houses the office of the Mayor as well as the Waterville Opera House.

Thomas R.W. Longstaff, who is both a Waterville City Councilor and the former Crawford Family Professor of Religious Studies here at the College, gave an explanation on how the city government of Waterville works.

Longstaff said that the Waterville City Charter was recently revised and approved by voters in November 2005 by a vote of 2,222 to 607. He explained that a document showing commentary on the final report of the Waterville Charter Commission mentioned "four major themes which the Charter Revision incorporates." One of the themes dealt with the "reallocation of duties/responsibilities among the Branches of City Government." There are three main responsibilities of city government: making policy, administrating the local government, and creating city laws and ordinances. The policy aspect rests with the mayor and the City Council, while legislative authority is vested solely in the City Council. Administrative authority, on the other hand, rests "in the newly titled City Manager."

The report noted that the old form of Waterville government gave the mayor most of the power. The new charter has dispersed the power among the mayor, the Waterville City Council, and the City Manager. One example is oversight of city department directors. "Under the old form of Government, the Mayor had direct oversight of the department directors. Under the proposed Charter Revision, the City Manager will have that role." The document also said that "the City Manager will answer primarily to the City Council rather than the Mayor, and the City Manager will have increased flexibility in implementing the policy and legislative directions of the Mayor and the City Council." The City Manager is also charged with developing and submitting a city budget to the mayor.

The City Council "will continue to carry out the legislative and policy functions of the City" and "will be tasked with overseeing the hiring, termination, and general oversight of the City Manager." The report noted that "the mayor will continue to be elected by the people of the City as a whole and shall have responsibility for establishing, with the City Council, policy directives for the City." The new charter changes also gave the mayor authority to veto most City Council votes.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools