The Board of Town Commissioner for the Town of Upper Marlboro are currently reviewing the Structure of Government since the board has grown from 3 to 5 Commissioners.  We value input from all Town residents and encourage everyone to do their research when answering the questions below.  We look forward to future discussion on the Structure of Government for the Town of Upper Marlboro as we continue to grow. Thank you for taking the time to complete our survey.  

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* 1. Elected officials should hold office for:

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* 2. I prefer that seats on the Board of Commissioners be:

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* 3. Elected officials should be term limited (this means they may only serve a certain number of terms):

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* 4. There should be a way to remove elected officials from office for cause:

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* 5. The Mayor should be selected by:

The last question asks about the form of government.  It requires a bit of reading before answering.  There are four main types of government briefly described for reference.  If you would like more infomation please visit: Types of Government.

 
Strong Mayor-Council – (current form) The Mayor is able to make most decisions with little consultation with the council.

Pros: This is an efficient form of government as only one person needs to make the decision and therefore can make it quickly.

Cons: The Mayor decides how staff spends their time so can block other Commissioners from relieving information, or having the assistance needed to peruse their initiatives.

Weak Mayor-Council — The Mayor is mainly a figurehead for the Town, they have little decision-making authority if any.

Pros: Decisions are made by a group and this encourages consensus and woking together. Commissioner initiatives are more likely to be supported.

Cons: Decision-making is slow. Commissioners need to meet more frequently in order to react to timely and emergency matters.

Council-Manager — This creates a Town Manager position and authorizes that manager to make the day-to-day decisions for the running of the Town. They typically have the authority to make timely decisions.

Pros: The Council works together to guide the actions of the Town, and there is someone who and implement their initiatives quickly and deal with timely matters.

Cons: This person is not an elected official and without proper oversight can take the Town in a different direction than its residents wish to go.

Commission — This form gives each commissioner oversight in the day-to-day running of individual departments within the Town.

Pros: Allows day-to-day decisions to be made by an elected official.

Cons: Requires elected officials to commit a larger amount of time to the job. Can result in less coordination, especially if elected officials have differing points of view.

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* 6. I would like to see the Town use the following 

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* 7. Address / Demographics - Street Only Is Acceptable

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* 8. Race

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* 9. Age

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