MILLINOCKET, Maine — Anita Mueller has become the second Town Council member in two weeks to resign, writing in her resignation letter that the council “had reached a level of dysfunction” that made further participation pointless, she said Wednesday.
A first-term councilor, the 57-year-old gallery owner and tour operator said in the one-page letter dated Tuesday that she was leaving effective immediately.
“Too low a bar has been set for both ethical and conflict of interest conduct of business,” Mueller said.
Council business lacks transparency and councilors “waste time on petty personal agendas with little to no effort on the part of the council to establish priorities, plan strategically, or chart a viable fiscally responsible path forward,” Mueller said.
When asked his reaction to Mueller’s letter on Wednesday, council Chairman Richard Angotti Jr. would only say, “She has a right to her opinion.”
“As an elected official, I gave up my rights to my opinion,” Angotti added. “I try to do the will of the people — all of the people. It’s her prerogative to resign if she did not feel she was getting anywhere.”
Mueller joins Richard Theriault as a recent resignee. Also a first-term councilor, Theriault resigned on Aug. 27 in protest of a controversy over Town Manager John Davis’ decision on Aug. 12 to shut off the town’s fire horn. Councilors said Davis had the right to make that decision but reversed it the night that Theriault resigned.
Mueller said that Davis and Angotti ignored requests from her and other councilors that the horn be turned back on before the Aug. 27 meeting. She said that Davis, Angotti and Councilor Michael Madore tend to make decisions unilaterally and consult other councilors later.
When interviewed on Wednesday, Angotti was meeting in Davis’ office with Davis, Madore and former Councilor John Raymond on economic development issues. The council formed a committee last month to deal with what Angotti called the town’s top issue — its need for more economic development.
As an example of ethical misconduct, Mueller said that Councilor Jimmy Busque, a national park opponent, committed an ethical gaffe when he altered a 2011 council resolve against the national park and gave it to the state Legislature’s Joint Standing Commission on the Judiciary. The alteration reflected support for a 2014 bill that would have limited the federal government’s ability to buy Maine land to 5 square miles.
“Regrettably, I had a lapse in judgment when I made the change and recognize that I was wrong in presenting the amended resolve to the Judiciary Committee,” Busque apologized to committee members in a letter dated April 2, 2014.
Councilors also were wrong to allow former Town Manager Peggy Daigle to write a letter to U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, opposing the park after the council voted not to send a letter. And councilors were wrong for giving the Friends of the Millinocket Library organization an 18-page lease agreement when a letter of understanding would probably suffice, Mueller said.
“I don’t think this is personal. This is probably a situation where two people think they are doing something wonderful for the community and it is creating chaos,” Mueller said. “I don’t see anybody’s intent to be malicious. I think they believe in their hearts they are doing the right thing.”