For as long as Board of Selectmen Chairman Patrick Tropeano can remember, Wareham’s Town Clerk has always been elected by the town. But an article on this year’s Fall Town Meeting warrant could change that.

The article would allow the Board of Selectmen to appoint a Town Clerk, rather than let the town decide in a vote every three years, the term of a Town Clerk. The current Town Clerk is Mary Ann Silva, who has held the position for the past 17 1/2 years.

Tropeano said he is in favor of the change, because it allows the Selectmen to stipulate that prospective candidates for the position have the necessary qualifications, "like the CEO of a company."

“We have been lucky with Mary Ann,” Tropeano said. “But in the past, we have had … some that have been incompetent. The clerk of the town is responsible for all the record-keeping and everything – it’s not a position that should be dealt with politically.”

Tropeano said he believes many towns have moved away from electing certain town officials, such as their town clerks, in recent years.

“They used to politicize a lot of positions, in years gone by,” Tropeano said. “But the world is too complicated, right now, to politicize everything.”

Silva said she doesn’t have any feelings one way or the other on the article, but she supported bringing the article to Town Meeting, so voters could decide for themselves. She said she will present a list of pros and cons to the idea at Town Meeting, after she does some research, because she can only come from the perspective of an elected clerk.

“I will be … asking other clerks how they have made out, and how they like being appointed,” Silva said. “You don’t have to report to anyone but [the voters], and you don’t have anyone standing over your head. It has its benefits, but you have to have a work ethic.”

Voters will have their chance to weigh in on the matter at Fall Town Meeting on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.