Group objects to one manager for Twin Cities

AUBURN – City government is in capable hands with Laurie Smith as acting city manager, councilors said Monday.

“The trash will be picked up, and everything is the same as it was yesterday,” Mayor John Jenkins said.

The City Council appointed Smith to fill the vacant city manager’s post for at least six months or until a full-time replacement for Pat Finnigan can be found. Friday was Finnigan’s last day on the job.

Councilors also said they were willing to discuss the future of the job with the Lewiston City Council. Auburn councilors passed a resolution calling for a joint council meeting to discuss the pros and cons of sharing a top administrator.

Lewiston’s councilors have suggested having their city administrator, Jim Bennett, serve as an interim Auburn manager. The idea was endorsed by the Citizens Commission on Joint Services last month. That group, made up of five Auburn residents and five Lewiston residents, unanimously agreed that the idea was worth discussing.

But residents at Monday’s meeting said they believed having one administrator for the two cities is a bad idea.

“We already have a city manager,” said Ron Potvin, who represents a Small Property Owners of Auburn, a taxpayer advocate group. Members were concerned about the prospect of having Bennett serve in Auburn, Potvin said.

“Our constituents are not even in favor of discussing it, and we have no problem escalating our opposition if you pursue this course,” Potvin said.

He said the city’s charter does not discuss sharing an administrator.

“It’s too soon,” he said. “The plan we’ve discussed for sharing services was a long-term plan, a five-year plan. They didn’t just start out by combining the top position,” he said.

But Councilor Ellen Peters said the topic deserved debate.

“I’m always in favor of discussion,” she said. “If we omit debate, we prevent people from hearing another side.”