Town Meeting Could Drop Town Manager Residency Requirement

MANSFIELD, MA — Town Meeting voters could remove a town rule which requires the town manager to live in Mansfield.

The 2018 Annual Town Meeting Warrant includes four articles on the issue. If approved, Article 23 would remove the requirements that the town manager has to establish residency in Mansfield within a year of accepting the position. Article 24 would leave the residency requirement up to the discretion of the selectmen and Article 25 would serve as a home rule petition to the state legislature to finalize the new policy.

Town officials say that the residency requirement impacted the amount of candidates that applied for the town manager opening last year.

A citizen's petition from Sandra Levine and 14 other residents will ask voters to allow that a town manager who lives in a bordering town be exempt from the residency requirement with the selectmen's approval.

Also on the warrant is an article to change the name of the board of selectmen to select board and rename selectmen to select board members.

Town Meeting is May 15 at Mansfield High School.

Image: File Photo