Michael Starn Quotations

You have to evoke a sense of responsibility in the townspeople to participate in the government. But the bottom line is that it's an individual choice. An open town meeting is more time-consuming than other types of government we conduct, but I don't think it's too much to ask residents in towns that still have a town meeting to participate.

The town management profession is generally one that has a certain amount of volatility to it, whether it's volatility the manager him- or herself instigates or the council or selectmen who instigate that volatility.

It's a level of commitment municipalities feel isn't strong enough when it's in statute.

I'm finding that a lot of the smaller towns are really struggling to stay within their limits.

I read something a while ago that back in 1920s there were 5,000 schools buildings in Maine, and now we have 700. This is not a problem just surfacing now. It's something towns have had to deal with for many years.