Manager residency idea fizzles Proposal would have required amendment of Brewer charter

BREWER – Should the city manager be required to reside in the city? Not according to city officials who met earlier this week.

A proposal to amend the city charter to require that future Brewer managers live in Brewer was submitted by Councilor Larry Doughty. Had it won support, the change would have affected any city managers hired after current City Manager Stephen Bost, who lives in Orono.

Doughty, who requested the matter be considered during a public hearing, said that while he has no complaints about Bost’s job performance, he opted to raise the issue at the request of some constituents he said were concerned about city salaries heading out of town.

Research Doughty conducted last fall suggested that residency may be required more often that not in Maine cities. He said that an informal poll showed that all but five of the 22 cities he consulted had a manager residency requirement. In 13 communities, residency was addressed in the city charter. In four other cities, Bangor among them, residency was addressed in the manager’s employment contract.

Though Doughty’s proposal was discussed, it fizzled for lack of support.

“I don’t care,” said Councilor Donna Thornton. “I was on the City Council – I chaired the City Council – that negotiated the contract [with Bost].” She said that while she once agreed with the concept, she now believes that “hiring the best person for the job is extremely important.

“I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the community,” Thornton said. Such a requirement, she said, would “tie the hands of future councils” when the time comes for the next manager search. Besides, she added, residency could be negotiated, if the city ultimately decided to go that route.

Councilor Manley DeBeck Jr. agreed. He also said that living outside the city at times might actually work in Bost’s favor, such as when he is called upon to mediate disputes among residents. DeBeck further said that he had not heard residents complain about Bost’s residency. Residents, he said, were more concerned about taxes and sewer and water rates than where the manager lives.

“He’s also here when a lot of people don’t know he’s here,” DeBeck said, citing weekend and evening hours.

Though he said he felt awkward discussing the matter, “since I’m the person being talked about,” Bost said serving the city was one of his highest priorities.

“When I accepted the job, now almost three years ago, I did so assuring the council at that time that I take this position very, very seriously, that my commitment to the city is 150 percent and that my devotion to Brewer predates my being hired as city manager,” Bost said, noting that he was twice elected to the Maine Senate to represent Brewer and surrounding towns.

“No matter where I live, my devotion to this city, my devotion to this government and to the body politic here is second to none,” he said.

If residency was required of the city’s senior management team, he noted, it would affect the police and fire chiefs, the librarian, the city engineer and planner and the directors of parks and recreation, finance and economic development, to name a few.