Tuesday, November 8, in-person Rockport Vvoters will be asked by the Select Board, in a 5:0 recommendation, to simplify the way Town Managers are hired in Warrant Article 9, altering the town’s charter, Article 3, Section 2: Appointment Process. Comparing the new language to the old, what currently takes more than 500 words is boiled down to a mere 150.

  If you voted by absentee ballot you had time to read both versions and think about them, as you had with all 10 ballot questions. If you are voting in person, my bet is that you will glance at the 10 articles, note the recommendations and base your vote on them, rather than take the time to wade through the several pages of official language. 

But the changes proposed in Article 9, how the critical office of Town Manager is filled are not just a simplification, they are a complete change in the hiring process ending public participation, information, and control.

Let’s look at the changes:

1. A word change can mean a lot. “Shall” means something is required, “May” makes the action optional.
2. The search advertisements can be limited to 14 days, as if hiring a town manager should be a quick, painless process.
3. The Maine Municipal Association, a body that provides help, advice, and a wealth of experience, is not only no longer required to be involved, it isn’t even mentioned.
4. No longer is a formal search committee even required, but if there is one, everything they do is strictly confidential, not to be shared with the public. No committee means the Select Board can choose whomever it wants regardless of experience or conflict of interest, by any process over any time period as long as they advertise the position for two weeks. And no rules about how the advertising is done.

Jan Rosenbaum lives in Rockport