About Lowell’s Plan E Form of Government
Move Lowell Forward PAC supports professional city management. This is in keeping with the spirit of the Plan E type of charter that Lowell is incorporated under. The intent of a Plan E form of government (a City Council with a city manager) is to take some of the politics out of the management of the city – because introducing politics into the day to day operations of a city is a destabilizing influence. There has been direct interference in the duties of the City Manager by the current City Council in the last two years. A majority of incumbent city councilors have used their powers of budget approval to defund, and essentially fire, a person within the current city manager's staff. This, at minimum, violates the spirit of a Plan E form of government, and is arguably a potential violation of our Charter.
Previous Lowell City Councils have had a history of appointing unprepared politicians to the position. As a result, we have a past littered with CMs who have been unable to perform their duties, some who have been convicted, and many who have played politics with their position of power. A previous city manager even ignored, and hid from the City Council, two letters requesting a budget audit from the Mass Department of Revenue before he was asked to resign. Such a DoR request is quite serious and could have led to tough consequences for the city.
Other cities and towns in Massachusetts have faired very well under professional City or Town Managers who have a strong background in the field. Many have stayed in their respective position for years or decades. This creates a stable environment for planned economic development, budgets and union negotiations, and for delivery of services to residents. We believe the residents of Lowell deserve similar consideration when our City Council is hiring or retaining the one person who has the most influence in the day to day management of the city.
Latest PAC News
MLF Releases Set of Considerations for City Manager Contract
Move Lowell Forward PAC has released a document entitled Considerations for a City Manager Contract for the City Of Lowell, MA (download PDF here). The document is a set of ideas based around the PAC's stated mission, on ways a City Manager contact might incorporate goals and measurements in the evaluations that could help determine a performance-based contract with the City Manager.
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