EAST MILLINOCKET, Maine — In a review of complaints alleging that the East Millinocket Board of Selectmen violated the state’s Freedom of Access Act last year, Maine’s public access ombudsman found no wrongdoing, but she discovered “questionable administrative practices.”
The complaints came from a group of residents, including Jennifer Murray and Selectman Clint Linscott, and were filed in late September. Murray said she believed that Selectwoman Kelley Michaud, then-Selectman James Jamo and then-board Chairman Gary MacLeod individually had conversations with the town administrative assistant via telephone last summer that constituted illegal meetings that should have been held in public.
An audio recording of the Aug. 26 selectmen’s meeting Murray posted to YouTube includes Michaud saying, “We do this every day. Every day, we get phone calls from our administrative assistant, every day, on some things, and she asks for three of us. … She is looking for three of us every day.”
Under state statute, meetings or conferences involving members of public bodies can’t be held without proper notice and the opportunity for public attendance. A meeting involving three members of a public body must be accessible to the public. Members of public bodies, however, may communicate with each other outside of meetings as long as they aren’t using the communication to subvert the meeting statute.
“I let Ms. Murray know that although there were questionable administrative practices, I found insufficient evidence to support a claim of proceedings being conducted outside of a public meeting,” Brenda Kielty, public access ombudsman for the Maine attorney general’s office, said in an email response Wednesday.
Kielty declined to comment Thursday when asked about the questionable practices or her review.
Kielty’s ruling backs statements made by the town’s attorney, Dean Beaupain, when the complaints were filed. He said that what Murray referred to as straw votes were likely interim Administrative Assistant Angela Cote and her predecessor, retired assistant Shirley Tapley, requesting direction on administrative matters.
Kielty said Beaupain was cooperative with her inquiry and added that “the change in administrative assistant may also have prompted new communication dynamics.”
Murray has said she believes the alleged illegal straw votes occurred with the decisions to rewrite Cote’s job description, the posting of the job and the vote to hire Cote. With Linscott abstaining, the board came out of executive session and voted 4-0 during a regular meeting on Aug. 26 to pay Cote, a town office utility clerk, an additional $750 per month to handle the administrative assistant’s duties.
Murray said she went to the attorney general’s office out of frustration that her complaints at selectmen’s meetings regarding what she believed was secret action by the board had achieved little traction.
Fielding complaints about possible access law violations, or offering advice to municipal and state officials seeking to avoid violating the law, is Kielty’s job. According to an annual report on her work, Kielty fielded 370 inquiries or complaints in 2014. She handled 303 in 2013.
Kielty said that of the 370, 91 were inquiries from municipal officials or complaints from residents around the state regarding public meetings and 20 were complaints about possible executive session violations or questions about the law.
Forty contacts required facilitation, or informal dispute resolution, she said. Kielty declined to comment on how many violations she found.
Murray and board Chairman Mark Scally did not return messages seeking comment. Linscott declined to comment.