Maine

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

Published

3 months 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

Mainers asked to report rabbit sightings to help protect endangered New England cottontail

Published

3 hours ago

January 2, 2025

Press Room

Mainers, if you see a rabbit that might be a New England cottontail or an Eastern cottontail (a non-native species that resembles NEC), Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife wants to hear about it.

The New England cottontail (NEC) is Maine’s only native true rabbit, and was once common in southern Maine. However, NEC populations have declined dramatically in Maine and across their entire range due to habitat loss, according to MDIFW, in a news release. Today, NEC are known to occur in just 7 towns: Cape Elizabeth, Scarborough, Wells, York, Kittery, Eliot, and Kennebunk; with a statewide population of less than 400 individuals.

“MDIFW is working with partners to restore Maine’s NEC, but we need more eyes in southern and coastal Maine!” said the release.

MDIFW will conduct surveys in the vicinity of credible NEC sightings to search for currently unknown populations.

“Any new confirmations of the species will greatly enhance our restoration effort by allowing us to protect the population and provide additional opportunities for us to conduct habitat management that will ultimately increase Maine’s NEC population,” said MDIFW.

Please take a photo to submit when possible, take note of the following, and report your sighting online:

Date
Time
Location/Town
Habitat Description
Identifying Characteristics- Please do not report known snowshoe hares. Did you observe any features that support identification as an NEC? Find identification tips below.

New England cottontails at a glance

New England cottontails are medium-sized rabbits (14-17 inches long) and weigh in at 1-2.5 pounds. They have dark brown fur with a wash of black-tipped fur, a black edge to their ears. They also have a black spot between their ears though this characteristic is typically not visible from a distance.

Hares are white in winter, but rabbits are brown year-round

It can be surprisingly tricky to distinguish NEC and snowshoe hares during most of the year but identification becomes much simpler in winter! The snowshoe hare goes through a costume change for the snowy months, turning white while NEC retain a brown coat all year. We only need reports of potential NEC so this winter remember to write it down if it’s brown and just enjoy the sight if its white!

Non-native look-alikes

Until recently, Maine was the only state in the northeast that did not have eastern cottontails, a non-native rabbit which is nearly indistinguishable from the NEC. Reporting all brown rabbits in winter not only helps locate new undocumented populations of NEC, it also may help identify areas of eastern cottontail expansion which pose a threat to the recovery of Maine’s only native rabbit.

Click here for more information.

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Maine

Maine home sales increased in November

Published

11 hours ago

January 2, 2025

Press Room

MAINE (WABI) – The Maine real estate market is beginning to see a shift to a more balanced market.

Maine Listings reported about a 6.8% increase in sales of single-family existing homes during the month of November compared to November 2023.

The median sales price reached $385,000, an increase of about 8.5%.

In November, the national price also rose and is now at nearly $411,000.

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Maine

Here are the 1st babies of 2025

Published

19 hours ago

January 1, 2025

Press Room

In Maine, several hospitals traditionally report their first births of the year. We will post them here as they are announced.

Michael Nathan Maiato, 7 pounds 12 ounces, was born at 2:55 a.m. Wednesday at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Portland to parents Paige and Joe Maiato of Kennebunk.

“We are overjoyed with the newest addition to our family,” Joe Maiato said. “What a way to ring in the new year!”

The Maiaitos said they were excited for Michael to meet his 2-year-old brother, Theo.

Myles Hudson Livingood, 6 pounds 10 ounces, was born at 7:05 a.m. Wednesday at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor to parents Emily Foss Andrews and Michael Livingood of Bangor.

Kolton Robert, 8 pounds 4.9 ounces, was born at 7:27 a.m. Wednesday at Northern Light Mercy Hospital in Portland to parents Mariah Rouille and Robert Desrosier of South Paris.

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