A proposal in Portland to once again consider making structural changes to city government, including the role of the city’s elected mayor, jumped out to an early 1,506-vote lead Tuesday night.

But city officials cautioned that final results were not expected to be announced Tuesday given the large number of absentee ballots requested by residents.

Question A on the city ballot asked voters if they wanted to form a charter commission to review the city charter, which lays out the basic power structure of municipal government in Maine’s largest city. The charter was last reopened and changed 12 years ago. And while the new mayor’s position has been controversial, there was no coordinated campaign around the charter question, though some progressive groups mounted a last-minute social media push in support of it.

With 11 of 12 precincts reporting, nearly 68 percent of voters were in favor of reopening the charter. The proposal was supported by people who voted in person at the polls both on and off the peninsula by a vote of 2,873 to 1,367. However, the measure was far more popular among the more progressive voters on the peninsula, where it was supported by 77.5 percent of voters, 1,421 to 411. Off peninsula, 60 percent of voters supported the commission, 1,452 to 956.

But those results only reflect in-person voting on Tuesday and only 8.7 percent, or 5,210, of the city’s 59,659 registered voters turned out. There were still nearly 18,000 absentee ballots requested by residents that needed to be tallied. City officials could not say how many of those ballots were returned.

A city spokesperson said results could be delayed because of unprecedented demand for absentee ballots in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. City Hall spokeswoman Jessica Grondin said election workers began processing absentee ballots Friday, but received a flood of ballots over the last two days.

The early results suggest that people who oppose the elected mayor and those who would like to strengthen the mayor position and eliminate the city manager role both supported a new charter commission. That dynamic could set up a spirited race in November, when commission members would be elected in citywide votes.

City Councilor Pious Ali, who supported the proposal, said he was encouraged by early returns, even though thousands of absentee ballots had not yet been counted.

“Even if the final results look different from what we have tonight, it’s an indication that there are a lot of people out there who think our city’s government structure needs to change from what we have now to one with a clear cut language whose interpretation is not (based) on the sentiment of whoever is the mayor, manager or city councilors,” Ali said in an email.

Question A was placed on the ballot in response to a citizen proposal to create a public financing program for municipal candidates, but has morphed into an opportunity to consider more significant changes, including rooting out systemic racism and addressing the controversy over the elected mayor job, a full-time position that has no real power over daily operations of the city.

The last commission was formed in 2008. And changes adopted two years later led to the creation of the elected mayor position, which has been a political lightning rod over the last eight years or so.

If approved, a 12-member charter commission would be formed. Three of the members would be appointed by the City Council, while the remaining nine would be elected like councilors – one from each of the city’s five voting districts and four at-large members. The group would then hold a series of meetings and public hearings to draft potential charter changes. Their recommendation would then go to voters for approval.

The 2008 charter commission resulted in the creation of a hybrid elected mayor position that has been blamed for tensions and conflict in City Hall. That tension ousted two previous mayors – Michael Brennan and Ethan Strimling – after their first terms. The charter change replaced a part-time mayor, chosen by fellow councilors for a one-year term, with a mayor elected to a four-year term by city voters. However, the mayor was not given the power to run the city’s daily operations. That job continues to lie with the city manager, a position created in Portland in 1923.

An additional proposal to extend voting rights to non-citizen residents was turned down by voters. That proposal has resurfaced in recent years, but hasn’t gone anywhere.

While many other communities are run by a professional manager rather than elected mayor, activists like Black Lives Matter Portland say the position is inherently racist. They note that the city manager position was created in Portland in 1923 with the support of the Ku Klux Klan, which was worried about the rising influence of immigrant and other minority communities. They, along with other progressive activists groups like the Southern Maine Democratic Socialists and Progressive Portland, are advocating for the elimination of the professional manager in favor of a strong mayor.

However, some city officials, including Mayor Kate Snyder, say it’s too soon to reopen the charter and that the elected mayor’s position needs to be given more time to work.

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