POWNAL — With a population of just under 3,500 and a part-time Selectboard, officials in Pownal have decided it might be time to join the ranks of other towns its size that have professional administrators.
“It’s just too much,” Selectboard member Suzanne Caraman said of trying to oversee town government without an administrator. “We all work.”
Caraman said a recent breakthrough cleared the way for the board to advertise for and hire a town administrator. Board members had assumed that such a change had to go to a specific town meeting vote for approval, she said, but a Vermont League of Cities and Towns attorney told Caraman the decision would be up to the board.
In addition, in a referendum in January 2016, voters authorized the board to hire an administrator or a town manager. The vote was 404-356 in favor.
The board next plans to discuss details of the position, with the aim of advertising for applicants. On Oct. 12, the board voted unanimously to begin the process of hammering out a job description, the hours to be worked, salary and other details.
Board member Ron Bisson voted to continue the process but also had several concerns.
“I’ve got problems with how much this is going to cost and problems with who this is going to displace, if people are going to be displaced,” he said prior to the Oct. 12 vote. “This should be decided long before we hire somebody.”
Chairman Nelson Brownell said the vote merely allows the board to move ahead with the process.
According to the VLCT Municipal Assistance Center, there are about 30 town administrators in Vermont and 54 town or city managers. Caraman said the center has agreed to help Pownal with the job description.
The organization also suggested that Pownal review details of administrative positions in other communities, she said, adding that Vernon, with a population of about 2,200, hired an administrator in 2016.
Like Pownal, Vernon has a five-member Selectboard.
Caraman said the Pownal board often has suffered from a lack of coordination on issues because members are all part-time officials and need someone with the authority to make telephone calls; keep track of grant or other funding options; and research issues and legal requirements and present the best options to the board for approval.
A recent effort to update the town personnel policies, for example, has been more time-consuming and confusing than it would be with an administrator checking legal issues and keeping track of day-to-day operations, Caraman said.
The Selectboard had begun discussing whether a town manager or an administrator would be best. But members soon learned that a manager position would require adoption of a town manager/selectboard form of governmental charter, which would necessitate a lengthy process and approval by the Legislature.
Unlike a manager, an administrator can be hired to provide assistance to the Selectboard, whereas a manager would have a designated level of authority over hiring and managing employees and over administration of the budget.
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