BANGOR, Maine — The departure of longtime City Councilor Patricia Blanchette for Florida last month has some city councilors discussing whether rules should be implemented to govern resignations and long-term absences.
After being elected to eight council terms and four state legislative terms since 1987, Blanchette confirmed last month that she has placed her Bangor home on the market and purchased a house in Dade City, Florida.
While she has already left Bangor and does not plan to return, Blanchette has not officially resigned her position on the council, calling the remainder of her term, which is due to expire in January, an overdue vacation.
That had two city councilors pushing last week to establish rules governing the resignation of councilors and long-term absences.
“One of the things that we do do when we get elected [is] take that oath that we will fill our full terms,” said Councilor Pauline Civiello.
Without dissent, the council’s Government Operations Committee approved a motion from Councilor David Nealley instructing city employees to return to the committee with recommendations for a policy covering councilor resignations and long-term absences.
“One of the requirements is legal residency, and if she’s taken Florida now as her legal residency, then how can she any longer be on the Bangor City Council?” Nealley argued.
According to City Solicitor Norm Heitmann, Blanchette’s decision not to resign her position means she is still technically a member of the Bangor City Council. Since her departure, the city has been mailing Blanchette’s council agendas and other materials to her new Florida home.
Additionally, Blanchette has discontinued her municipal email account, according to city officials. Heitmann said last week he expects Blanchette will receive her final $500 installment of the $2,000 councilors receive annually for their service.
Despite support from Civiello, Nealley withdrew a motion instructing city staff to stop mailing agendas to Blanchette when councilors Ben Sprague, Gibran Graham and Nelson Durgin said they would oppose the motion.
“I think it’s an irrelevant issue. It has nothing to do with a councilor being a member or not,” said Durgin, who pointed out there is nothing in the city charter that deals with the mailing of information to councilors.
“I really don’t see that we should be spending taxpayer dollars to send a packet of information to someone who is no longer a city councilor,” Civiello said.
Heitmann told the councilors they were arguing about something that didn’t really matter, because Blanchette could easily request council materials under the state’s freedom of access law even if she were not a member of the council.
He expressed concern that the discussion would put city staff in the middle of a disagreement between councillors.
“If you don’t want Councilor Blanchette to receive what she’s legally entitled to receive, then don’t ask us not to do it,” he said.
Whether a policy dealing with absences and resignations would be enforceable remains unclear.
City Manager Cathy Conlow said she would research council resignation and absence policies, but she reminded councilors any policy would deal primarily in how the council governs itself.
That’s because the city’s charter gives neither the city manager’s office nor the City Council itself authority to overturn election results by declaring a councilor no longer eligible to serve.
While the city charter does say councilors must live within the city limits, disagreements over whether politicians meet residency requirements are often difficult to resolve since one can own multiple residences in various locations and still claim his or her legal domicile as elsewhere.
Additionally, the city has no policy regarding what to do if a councilor does not attend meetings, leaving it to voters to decide whether a councilor who does not attend meetings should continue serving.
For some councilors, that method is sufficient given the infrequency that the council has dealt with issues of attendance.
“Frankly, I think the self correcting mechanism is already in place, which is re-election or not,” Councilor Josh Plourde argued during the council’s meeting on Monday, Aug. 17.
Even if the council had a policy dealing with council resignations, it is unlikely it would have applied in Blanchette’s case, according to Heitmann.
“We can have a process about resignation, and if any of you want to quit and you don’t want to quit in writing, there’s not really much we can do,” he said.
Had Blanchette formally resigned her position, her seat would most likely remain vacant for the remainder of her term. According to Heitmann, with elections set for November, there would not have been time to hold a special election to find a replacement to finish the term.
Due to term limits, Blanchette was not eligible for re-election. Until her term expires, she would technically be eligible to vote on any council decision; however, she would have to return to Maine from Florida to do so, as the city does not allow proxy voting.
Nealley said he considered it extremely unlikely Blanchette would return for a vote.
Follow Evan Belanger on Twitter at @evanbelanger.