Freeport residents voted in favor of changing the city’s form of government from one run by a full-time mayor and city council to one with a city manager running city operations as chief executive.
The measure calling for the change won with 53 percent in favor vs. 47 percent against. The measure had been backed by a number of businesses and the local chamber of Commerce. They argued a city the size of Freeport needed a full-time professional running day-to-day operations, and said it would free up the mayor and council to concentrate more on strategic planning.
Opponents had said the change was unnecessary, arguing that a part-time administrator would solve the issues brought up by the measure’s backers. They also said it add costs along with another layer of government.
Previous attempts to change to a city manager model had failed at the polls three times before.