ROCKLAND, Maine — City councilors are up in arms over a memo issued by the city manager that they must go through him to consult with the municipal attorney.
The issue has resulted in the council scheduling a special meeting for 2 p.m. Saturday to discuss a personnel matter.
“It’s ludicrous, completely ridiculous,” said Councilor William Jillson of the manager’s memo.
City Manager James Chaousis sent an email to councilors Dec. 23, contending that the attorney is an employee under his supervision and that the city charter requires that councilors must go to him to seek advice from the staff lawyer, Jillson and Councilor Valli Geiger said Thursday.
Jillson said the councilors need to reign the manager back in, at a minimum.
The City Council was scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting Monday evening to discuss a personnel matter before the Saturday session was called.
Councilor Larry Pritchett said personnel questions involving more than one city employee have been brought to council members’ attention in the last 10 days. A majority of the council felt the number, range and complexity of questions warranted a special meeting of the body.
In regard to the memo, Geiger said the manager has misinterpreted the charter.
She said that is all she had to say about the matter at this time.
An email was sent to Chaousis on Thursday evening seeking comment on the matter, but no response has yet been received. An email also was sent to Mayor Louise MacLellan-Ruf on Thursday but had not been returned by Friday afternoon.
Jillson, who was elected to the council in November, had consulted with the city attorney last month to draft the proposed six-month moratorium on power plants in the city. The council gave initial approval to that moratorium last month and is scheduled to take a final vote on the measure on Jan. 11.
Chaousis voiced concern about the moratorium and the potential negative message it could send to businesses.
Section 205 of the city charter states that “the council or its members shall deal with city officers who are subject to the direction and supervision of the manager solely through the manager, and neither the council nor its members shall give orders to any such officer or employee, either publicly or privately.”
Section 403, however, points out that the city manager, city clerk and city attorney are elected by the council and serve at its pleasure.
A third section, Section 406, states that “there shall be a legal officer of the city to be called the city attorney, elected by the council who shall serve as chief legal advisor to the council, the manager, and through the manager to all city departments, boards, agencies, and commissions. The legal officer shall represent the city in all legal proceedings and shall perform any other duties prescribed by ordinance and law.”
Chaousis has served as city manager in Rockland since March 2, being hired from Boothbay, where he served as its manager.
Since coming to the city, there has been a greater than usual turnover in staff with the departure of the finance director, public works director and recreation director. Harbor master Ed Glaser will be leaving at the end of the month. This followed him being suspended by the manager, an action Chaousis later withdrew after Glaser’s decision to retire.
Chaousis has said on multiple occasions that communications in the city needs to improve and that city officials need to speak with one voice.
In October, when he hired Audra Caler-Bell as assistant city manager, he referred to communications.
“The city needs to communicate better,” Chaousis said. “We have not done this better in my last six months, although there has been significant effort, but we will. This communication is multifaceted. It means department to department. It means internally, externally, to and from committees. Some of this will be from technological advancements that we are working on, but much of it will come from establishing policies and procedures on the flow of information. Every public employee and public official is an ambassador of the city, but if we don’t speak as one it just sounds like noise.”
His hiring of the assistant city manager created controversy over whether the manager had that authority. Last month, councilors unanimously voted to create the assistant manager position and to confirm his appointment of Caler Bell.