egally a city, but
chooses to be known as a town that has a city form of government. The new Town
Charter, which took effect in 2006, was passed in a special election. The Board
of Selectmen and Town Meeting were abolished, and legislative powers were vested
in an elected Town Council. Executive power, largely ceremonial, resides in the
Council President, who is popularly elected. An appointed Town Manager serves
as the head of administrative services. On July 26, 2007, the Winthrop Sun
Transcript reported that a movement was beginning to abolish the Town Council
and return to a Representative Town Meeting - which would thus revert Winthrop
from a city back into its original status as a town. The multistage process to
reverse the changes made by the 2006 charter is considered complex, so it
remains to be seen what form of government Winthrop will adopt going forward
