ROCKLAND, Maine — A policy approved earlier this year by the Rockland City Council to restrict employees contact with the media is a dramatic change from a previous open door policy and has led to a clamp down on release of public information.
The City Council voted 4-0 at its March 18 meeting to approve an employee handbook. In that handbook was a policy concerning contact with the media.
“It is important to ensure that only clear and up-to-date information about our organization be given to the media. When contacted as a representative of the city by the media at work (e.g. newspapers, magazines, radio, web-based media, television, news agencies, and other news services), employees must refer all calls and contacts to the City Manager or Assistant City Manager. In addition, employees do not have the authority to reach out to the press as a representative of the City,” the policy states.
This is a significant departure from the past practice of Rockland, where the media could obtain information from all departments, upon request, such as obtaining information on building permit applications, the number of liens placed on properties, or tax records.
The Bangor Daily News requested information last week on new building permit applications and was referred to the assistant city manager. The newspaper also requested information Monday on the agenda for an upcoming board of assessment review meeting and was referred by the assessor to the assistant city manager.
When asked about the new policy, most councilors were mum. An email was sent Friday morning to each city councilor.
Newly elected Councilor Adam Ackor said he would like to strike the policy from the handbook.
“I believe the directive is impractical and unrealistic,” Ackor said in an email.
He said he understands the intent may be to prevent an employee from creating a false narrative or causing a disruption as a purported representative of city policy in general but that the media policy seems to be an overreach.
“I’d prefer to promote a freer exchange of information, and transparency with the press. If a problem arises with an employee making false or damaging statements, that should be addressed on a case by case basis,” he said.
Mayor Louise MacLellan-Ruf and councilors Valli Geiger and Will Clayton did not respond. Councilor Larry Pritchett replied Monday, saying that there was a death in his family and he could not immediately respond to the questions on the policy.
Assistant City Manager Audra Caler Bell said Monday that the city is not trying to make it difficult for the media or public to get information but simply wants to keep all parties in city government aware of what is being requested. She also said some city employees are not comfortable being put on the spot with requests for information when the media walks in and asks questions and prefer that information requests be emailed so that they will have time to provide an answer and to inform management of the media requests.
City Manager James Chaousis, whose resignation will be voted on Monday evening by the council, has worked to make the change for the past year. When he announced the appointment in October of Caler Bell as assistant city manager, Chaousis said the city “must articulate a positive image of the City as an organization, and as a community.”
“There are too many examples of this positive image at our fingertips for it to go unnoticed. This positive image of the City will encourage people to invest in the City of Rockland. Investors will be residential homeowners, small business, and opportunities we can’t imagine. This is the biggest economic development tool we will ever possess and we should harness it.
“The City needs to communicate better. 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,” he concluded in his statement.
A week later, the City Council held a session in which the members listed a small vocal minority, the media and unprofessional employees as weaknesses in the city.
At that meeting, Chaousis said that the “gotcha” media phenomenon was occurring at the federal, state and had now gone to the local level.
Chaousis contracted with a human resources consultant Laurie Bouchard last year to develop the handbook as well as to come up with job descriptions for employees. Bouchard has been paid $26,885 since early last year.