Hollis voters elected to hire their first a town manager and expand the town’s select board to five members.
The ordinance passed Tuesday with 560 votes in favor and 349 votes opposed.
Hollis currently has three select board members who run day-to-day operations with the help of an administrative assistant. The biggest spending and policy decisions are made at an annual town meeting of residents, the most common form of local government in Maine.
Hollis will add a full-time manager and expand the size of the select board from three to five members. But it will not do away with the annual town meeting, and residents still will have a direct say over major spending and other decisions. It’s a hybrid form of government adopted by nearly 20 other Maine communities.
Groups of Hollis residents have attempted to hire a town manager twice in recent years. In 2017, the proposal was rejected by a slim margin of 18 votes. In 2019, residents formed a committee that once again advocated for a town manager, but the select board did not allow it on the warrant and the committee did not have enough time to circulate a citizen petition.
With a population of around 4,800, Hollis stood among only a few York County towns its size that had not adopted a town manager-style government. Hollis was the fastest-growing town in York County from 2010-2020 according to census data.
Lebanon, with a population of around 6,500, and Buxton, with a population of around 8,400, have not changed their form of government to include a town manager.
Limington, a neighboring town with a population of around 4,000, elected to hire a town manager in March.
Now that the ordinance has passed, the three current board members will remain, and two new members will be elected in June 2025, at next year’s annual town meeting. Other elected town officials will also remain in their positions.
A nine-member hiring committee made up of the board, town employees, other committee members and residents will be formed by September, with the responsibility of recommending town manager candidates and compensation packages to the select board.
The town manager’s employment should begin in the summer of 2025.
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