I. Council Action Requested.
Title
To appoint two councilors as delegate and alternate delegate to the Greater Portland Council of Governments General Assembly, the policy-making body of GPCOG. (The General Assembly meets annually in May.)
Body
II. Basis for Council Action.
Council approval of this item is required because;
a. The Bylaws of the Greater Portland Council of Governments allow up to two representatives plus one alternate to the General Assembly. They require that at least one of the representatives must be a municipal officer, and that all representatives must be appointed by the municipal officers of each participating member municipality, and
b. pursuant to Article II, Section 1 of the Charter “[t]he Town Council, hereinafter called the ‘Council’, shall be and constitute the municipal officers of the Town.”
III. Issue Summary.
The Town of Windham is allowed two delegates and an alternate delegate. GPCOG bylaws require at least one delegate to be a municipal officer; in Windham’s case, a member of the Town Council. The Town Manager has also been appointed as a delegate in the past as the town’s representative to the GPCOG Executive Committee, the agency’s governing body.
The General Assembly convenes all of the region’s 25 municipalities. It serves as the policy-making body of Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG). The General Assembly elects officers, adopts the annual budget, sets dues, sets GPCOG bylaws (PDF) <https://www.gpcog.org/DocumentCenter/View/297/2014-Greater-Portland-Council-of-Governments-Bylaws-PDF>, and generally guides the direction of the agency.