Maine

Residents in a Maine town propose ethics code after months of dysfunction

Published

3 hours ago

October 18, 2024

Residents in a Maine town propose ethics code after months of dysfunction

WOODLAND, Maine — Residents in one Aroostook town have banded together to create rules that they believe will hold elected leaders to higher standards.

For much of the past year, Woodland residents found themselves caught in the middle of dysfunction within local government. Conflicts between Select Board members often canceled or derailed public meetings, pushed back basic town business and led to turnover within the board and town departments.

Those issues inspired a group of seven residents to form a steering committee that has been meeting since February. Members are now hoping that residents will approve the town’s first set of rules for town government and code of ethics for elected officials.

“The town has had nothing: no bylaws or ordinances, no code of ethics, no standards,” said Lorraine Chamberlain, the panel’s chair. “We need structure and standards that will last.”

The proposed 18-page “operational procedures ordinance” would govern duties for the town’s Select Board and committees, how public meetings and hearings should be conducted, rules for public comment and voting, largely based on Robert’s Rules of Order and Maine Municipal Association’s guidelines for towns.

For instance, residents would have to limit public comments to three minutes during Select Board meetings, stay focused on town business and not use their time to make complaints against or attack the character of board members. The board chair would have the right to ask people violating those rules to leave the meeting.

The Code of Ethics would prohibit Select Board members from interrupting each other during meetings and engaging in conflicts of interest. They would need to refrain from “abusive conduct” of colleagues and citizens, which could include verbal attacks, disparaging remarks and written comments on social media in or outside of meetings.

Conflicts of interest could include a board member voting on matters pertaining to immediate family or anything that results in financial or personal gain, receiving gifts that influence how they vote on town matters and distributing pamphlets promoting family members who run for town boards or committees.

For too long, the town has not had a clear set of rules for holding leaders accountable, but the new ordinance could potentially alleviate most issues, said current Select Board chairperson Matt Cole.

“You’d have to conduct yourself with class,” he said.

The steering committee originally set out to create those rules through town bylaws, but later learned that the Select Board could legally vote to change bylaws. But an ordinance must be approved by residents in a town meeting, Chamberlain said.

“We wanted standards that could be in place no matter who is on the board,” Chamberlain said. “A new board could easily not follow a set of bylaws.”

Chamberlain and committee members will hold a public hearing Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at Woodland Consolidated School to gather feedback from residents about the ordinance.Once the committee has made changes based on that feedback, they and the Select Board will schedule a special town meeting for residents to vote on the ordinance. Residents can view the full proposed ordinance on the Woodland town website.

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Maine

Stunning weather with a big warmup on tap for Maine this weekend

Published

10 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Press Room

Stunning weather with a big warmup on tap for Maine this weekend

PORTLAND (WGME)— Chillytemperatures are being put to bed in Maine for a while. Warm temperatures and sunshine will take over as we head into the weekendand head into next week.

Thursday will be beautiful and sunny. Highs will be in the upper 50s.

Thursday evening will be chilly and clear, and we should have great viewing of the full moon and comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in the evening.

Friday will be in the 60s under sunny skies.

The warming trend continues into the weekend. Temps reach the mid to upper 60s under sunny skies for Saturday.

Even warmer temps are likely Sunday, in the upper 60s to near 70, also with plenty of sun.

Monday is the warmest day in the forecast. Sunshine will continue withhighs in the low to mid 70s.

We remain very warm in the upper 60s or low 70s for Tuesday and Wednesday of next week withplenty of sun.

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Maine

Morning update: What you need to know in Maine today

Published

18 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Press Room

Morning update: What you need to know in Maine today

TODAY’S TOP MAINE STORIES

Here are three things to know about illegal voting claims Maine Republicans want investigated. The claims hinge on leaked health records that the Maine secretary of state’s office is barred from accessing.

Maine’s early voting figures show neither party with clear momentum. Democrats have been dominating absentee voting in Maine, but Republicans have a narrower gap in the crucial 2nd Congressional District.

Bangor must house homeless residents if it closes camp, resource providers say. A team of outreach workers wants to find shelter for the 73 people living behind the Hope House Health and Living Center.

Bar Harbor asked voters to loosen the town’s cruise ship limits. Voters will have to agree to repeal the limits they approved in November 2022 for that to happen.

Rockland is going to hire a consultant to help sort out its housing crisis. Councilor Adam Lachman, who is sponsoring the order, said the city has made changes to its code but needs new ideas.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE

MAINE IN PICTURES

Kaitlyn McMurtry, 30, and Richard Kirkpatrick, 63, were paired up as part of One Small Step, a project of StoryCorps and Orland-based community radio station WERU that invites people with different viewpoints to talk about anything but politics. Credit: Courtesy of StoryCorps / WERU

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEKEND

It’s Homecoming Weekend at both the University of Maine and Husson University, so there’s lots going on for the next three days in both Bangor and Orono. Elsewhere, in Bangor improv comedy troupe The Focus Group does its last show at the soon-to-close Bangor Arts Exchange at 8 p.m. Friday. For Halloween fun, Maniac Manor in the Bangor Mall is open all weekend, and for little ghoulies, United Cerebral Palsy hosts Pumpkins in the Park again at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Anah Shrine Temple on Broadway. And in Waldo County, it’s the 19th annual Belfast Poetry Festival, which has lots of neat community poetry events, including a Haiku Death Match at 7 p.m. at the Colonial Theatre in Belfast.

FROM THE OPINION PAGES

LIFE IN MAINE

A new show in Bangor is turning a Stephen King book into musical improv. The show will follow the story of King’s novel “Salem’s Lot” but be different each night based on suggestions from the audience.

Is your hay Maine’s best? You can prove it in a new contest. With a shorter window to produce livestock feed here than in warmer parts of the country, quality matters.

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Maine

On positive unintended consequences: 'We cannot imagine a Maine coast without puffins'

Published

1 day ago

October 17, 2024

Press Room

Maine’s puffins have benefitted from conservation efforts, from which a successful “puffin economy” has emerged.

Historically, island Lighthouse Keepers chased gulls away from their roofs as they needed clean water for their cisterns. This happened to protect seabird colonies from predators. Later, human pressures reduced seabird colonies, eliminating puffins entirely.

In the 1970s, conservationists restored nesting puffins to those islands where people could chase away predators.

A partnership of the National Audubon Society, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge (MCINWR) began to manage Maine’s islands for wildlife. Academic partners provided island interns who lived there 24/7, from May to August. It is now a renowned success, unique to Maine.

Tourists also embraced the puffins’ return, and by 2005, the “puffin economy” (small businesses) was worth $2 million peryear. Today it is estimated to be $5 million per year – a positive unintended consequence from puffin conservation efforts.

While puffin tourism has steadily increased, the National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System has suffered steep declines in federal funding.

Mark Lender at the CT Examiner notes (Read National Wildlife Refuge System Nears Collapse) that the NWR has 2,300 staff and needs $2.2 billion in 2025 for operational requirements.

By comparison, the National Park Service has 30,000 staff and requested $3.57 billion for 2025.

The NWR manages 10 million more land acres, and 757 million more marine acres than NPS.

Through the Great American Outdoors Act, NPS will receive $15 an acre, while the Refuge System gets only $0.11 an acre. The inflation-corrected NWR operational budget for 2025 represents a reduction of 25% from 2023.

Last summer, the Friends of Maine Coast Islands National Wildlife Refuge provided 11% of island interns’ actual costs, because we cannot imagine a Maine coast without puffins.

Be positively consequential: support our wildlife and your Refuge.

Barbara S. Mogel is chair of the Friends of Maine Coast Islands National Wildlife Refuge

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