SWAN’S ISLAND — Over the past few months, a majority of island voters have made it clear they want a hand in facilitating the succession of the town’s long-serving selectmen.
At a recent special town meeting, residents voted to create a seven-member municipal advisory council to listen to the concerns of the community, conduct research on topics of interest to the community, and make recommendations to selectmen.
The Municipal Advisory Committee is the latest development since voters at a special town meeting in November instructed selectmen to appoint a town governance committee to study various forms of government. The committee looked at towns in Hancock County, and island towns outside Hancock County, to review the operation of towns with three and five selectmen, and a municipal advisory council , as well as a town manager and/or administrative assistant—all in conjunction with the town meeting form of governance. They also examined a town council government with a town manager and/or mayor.
Reporting back to voters in March, the committee recommended sticking with the current three-member board and forming the MAC.
The MAC’s duties are to research, recommend and advise on issues presented by selectmen. And it is viewed as a vehicle to gain experience in town governance for future selectmen.
“The MAC will also act as a forum for issues that citizens would like addressed or brought to the attention of the selectmen,” said its chairwoman, Carol Loehr. “We’re sort of a bridge between the selectmen and the town. We report citizen concerns to the selectmen, and we report to the town on issues that the selectmen direct us to work on.”
The goal, she said, is to have on the MAC as many demographic elements as possible.
Ideas like these, around fostering community-wide input and next-generation leadership, happen to be part of a wider conversation going on in Maine.
According to University of Maine Assistant Professor of Political Science Robert Glove, there can be enormous challenges for small communities to maintain pools of next-generation leaders.
“It comes back to economic opportunity. Young people are leaving Maine because they feel as if there are limited opportunities for them here. Many of those leaving would be our new entrepreneurs, our new small business owners, our communities’ doctors and lawyers,” he said. “These are the individuals that would feel a stake in the directions that their communities are taking and be capable of taking on leadership positions. If they leave, we’re left with a smaller pool from which to draw.”
Are there ways to maintain leadership pools?
“One step would be showing young people all the opportunities that exist for talented younger people who are willing to stay,” he said. “Another important step would be systematically preparing young people for leadership. At the University of Maine, we’ll already offering courses simply focused on leadership and will begin to offer a minor in ‘Leadership Studies’ next year. There’s a desperate need for leaders in this state and we’re trying to fill that gap.”
Lastly, he said, “Maine needs to recognize that its demographic of leaders in the future might be of entirely different ethnic and cultural makeup than those in the past. In other areas, immigrant communities have stepped into leadership roles. We have sizable immigrant populations in Southern Maine and even substantial numbers in Downeast Maine. These groups should be met with open arms.”
An example of systematic leadership training is Leadership Maine, a program of the Augusta-based Maine Development Foundation.
“There’s an imperative for us to have trained leaders who are aware of the issues and knowledgeable about how to make the best impact,” said program director Carol Taylor. “I think the awareness is, the more a leader knows and the more dense a leader’s connections, the more effective they can be—really upping their value as a leader. Some of these programs are relatively new and we are seeing new ones crop up every day.”
Glover said long-term leaders bring “institutional memory.” They’re familiar with the process and history of their communities, and they’ve built relationships.” However, new leaders bring new viewpoints and reforms. Small or island communities may have the greatest opportunity for the next generation.
“As prominent individuals retire and pass on, there will be a host of opportunities for young people if they’re content with what lifestyle those smaller communities have to offer them,” he said.