SANFORD — They’ve forged a new plan for governance of Sanford, and on Tuesday, the town’s charter commission rolled out the draft document for town councilors to examine.

Soon, they’ll take the document, which includes provisions for a city charter, an elected mayor and a modified budget committee, and present it to community for input this summer. They may then choose to tweak the document before presenting it for voters to decide in November.

Robert Stackpole, commission chairman, told the council that the charter proposal facilitates economic growth and provides leadership through a popularly elected mayor.

The commission examined several forms of governance; the city council and elected mayor option drew the largest score.

Changing Sanford, the state’s seventh-largest municipality, to a city offers greater appeal for economic development, said charter commission member Judy Gibbs.

“Perception is everything,” she said, indicating a designation as a city offers a greater cachet than does a town.

If the new form of governance is approved by voters, it would become effective January 2013. According to the draft document, in the first year, the city council would elect a chairman from its members, as it does today. At its first regular election under the new charter, in November 2013, the mayor would be elected to a base three-year term expiring Dec. 31, 2016. Thereafter, the mayor’s term will be two years.

The charter proposal eliminates Sanford’s representative Town Meeting, but includes a validation referendum on the municipal budget. The school budget already undergoes a validation vote.

Sanford adopted the selectmen and representative Town Meeting form of governance in 1935. At the time, there were 189 Town Meeting members over seven wards. In 1980, the number was decreased to 147, or 1.1 percent of registered voters. With the charter change that became effective in 2004, the number was reduced to 105 members, because over time, fewer citizens were stepping up to involve themselves in town government. At the 2011 annual Town Meeting, 73 members attended, Gibbs said.

After the 2004 charter change, the five-member selectmen board was replaced by a seven-member town council.

The new proposal includes an advisory budget committee made up of four members appointed by the city council and three elected, replacing the current finance committee, whose recommendations now appear on the Town Meeting warrant.

Stackpole said the decision on the appointed/elected split came as a result of significant compromise, and ultimately, consensus.

Commission members reasoned that the current budget process is ineffective and sets up conflict. Under the proposal, the budget committee would review municipal and school budgets and make a recommendation to the city council. Once the city council approves the budget, it is sent to a validation referendum.

Council Vice Chairman Anne Marie Mastraccio praised the efforts of the committee: “What a great job,” she said, but questioned the need for a budget referendum.

Brad Littlefield, a town councilor and secretary of the charter commission, said 24 Maine communities have a municipal budget validation referendum; the same type of referendum as the school validation vote instituted in Maine as part of school consolidation a few years ago.

The proposal includes a clause that mandates the city manager live in York County; the current charter mandates the manager live in town.

“You take care of what you invest in,” said Councilor Ken Burgess. “I still think the manager should reside in town.”

“I’ve got to agree with you. I’ve always felt the town manager shoulder reside in Sanford,” said Commissioner Marge Trowbridge.

Council Chairman Alan Walsh wanted to know how the mayor’s position differed from that of council chairman.

“It’s practical and philosophical,” said Stackpole, pointing out that mayor’s races tend to draw attention across the state. As well, he said mayoral candidates would run on a platform and work to get it approved. The mayor’s slot in Sanford wouldn’t have any more power than the current chairman, but would have a greater responsibility to constituents, he said.

Stackpole described the mayoral position as “not the strongest scenario,” but said no one on the charter commission favored a full-time mayor. He described the proposal as a “positive step in the right direction.”

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.