ROCKLAND, Maine — The city’s mayor has accused a fellow councilor of violating the city’s charter by hiring two consultants to advise the city on its overhaul of energy plant regulations without going through the procurement process.
Mayor Louise MacLellan-Ruf has asked the council to meet to review her allegation that Councilor Larry Pritchett violated the charter by hiring the consultants. The council has scheduled a discussion on the matter for 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Pritchett is defending his actions and pointed out how the mayor worked hard to defeat him the last time he ran for council.
MacLellan-Ruf and Pritchett were elected in 2013. Their terms on the council expire in November. Neither has indicated whether they will seek re-election.
“As to whether this is politically motivated, several people have asked me that question this evening and pointed out that Louise voted against the [energy plant] moratorium and campaigned hard against me in 2013. I do not know her motivation,” Pritchett said Monday after the meeting.
The council approved a six-month moratorium in January and authorized the energy advisory committee to provide advice and assistance to the planning board as it worked to develop an ordinance to regulate power plants. In January, the council also authorized the city manager to spend up to $20,000 to cover the costs of professional services for the development of regulations of power plants.
Pritchett also serves on the energy committee. He said Tuesday he was not aware the city had yet received any invoices from the engineering consultants but that they had indicated their work would be within the $20,000.
The mayor said the manager is responsible for entering into contracts, not individual councilors. She said Pritchett did not provide even a draft contract with the consultants to the city manager until April 25, nearly a month after the city manager had requested such documents. The consultants already worked with the energy committee and planning board on the power plant ordinances.
“This appears to be more than a procedural misunderstanding by a senior councilor. The amount of time that has elapsed and the lack of a timely response suggests a direct disregard of the charter,” MacLellan-Ruf said in her letter to the council asking for the ethics probe.
In her request for the probe, MacLellan-Ruf said she has received questions from community members about Pritchett’s actions in procuring the consultants. At the council’s April 25 meeting, resident Mike Grondin spoke during the public comment session and said he had a few concerns about Pritchett hiring the consultants on his own.
“I find this to be very unethical,” Grondin said.
On Monday, Grondin told the BDN that he had been contacted by the mayor to raise the questions at the April 25 meeting.
MacLellan-Ruf did not immediately respond Monday night to an email from the BDN about whether she asked Grondin to raise the question at the public meeting. She also did not reply to a query about what, if any, punishment she wants the council to impose on Pritchett if it finds a violation of the charter occurred.
“I am confident that the Energy Committee and the Planning Board acted within our charge from council. It is unfortunate that the mayor chose this route rather than discussing any questions she may have had with the Energy Committee or with me,” Pritchett said Monday night.
He said the council amended the moratorium to have the energy committee supply a list of technical experts to the planning board from which to choose.
Pritchett has asked the council to vote next Monday night to authorize payment for the two consultants who advised the city on its energy ordinances. The consultants were from the firms of SMRT and Woodard & Curran.
Councilor Valli Geiger said Tuesday councilors and chairs of committees should not be negotiating contracts and the city should not be engaging consultants and receiving bills after work has been done without ever receiving a contract and agreeing to terms.
“That is way beyond the bounds of expected behavior for a committee chair or a city councilor. That said, this may be inadvertent. We will know more after the discussion on Wednesday,” Geiger said.
An email sent to Councilor William Clayton Tuesday morning was not immediately answered.
A fifth seat on the council remains vacant and will be filled during elections on June 14.
City Manager James Chaousis is out on medical leave and not available for comment. MacLellan-Ruf provided excerpts of emails from the manager, however, which said he did not authorize the expenses for the consultants. The mayor also provided an excerpt from an email from the city attorney who said an agreement by anyone other than the manager was outside that person’s scope of authority.
Pritchett reaffirmed Tuesday that he does not think he was in error and said the city council hired attorney Linda McGill in January this year without the city manager authorizing that agreement.