The spouse of a Bangor City Councilor qualified for this year’s School Committee ballot, but it’s unclear whether she can be sworn in because of vague guidance in the city’s charter.
Jamie Beck, wife of City Councilor Michael Beck, is one of just three candidates who qualified to run for three open seats on the School Committee.
Article four of Bangor’s charter states, “No immediate family member of a sitting City Councilor shall serve on any board, committee or commission of the City of Bangor during the City Councilor’s term.” The provision defines immediate family member as a spouse, child, sibling or domestic partner.
That appears to bar a councilor’s spouse from serving on the School Committee — although precedent says otherwise, as School Committee member Ben Sprague served for two years while his father, Jonathan Sprague, was a city councilor, just a few years ago.
Jamie Beck’s candidacy in the uncontested election highlights a vague point in Bangor’s rules that the city has been unwilling to clarify and leaves significant questions about what could happen to the School Committee seat if she isn’t sworn in.
Asked about the rule, city spokesperson David Warren said, “It’s the opinion of the City’s Legal Department that Article IV of the City Charter does not technically prevent an immediate family member of a sitting City Councilor from being placed on the ballot.”
Warren did not answer detailed questions about whether Beck would be able to take office, how the city would fill a vacant seat if she isn’t sworn in, and why the Spragues were allowed to serve overlapping terms.
A spokesperson for the Maine Municipal Association declined to comment.
The city’s governing documents are inconsistent in terms of whether the School Committee is included under the category of “any board, committee or commission of the City of Bangor.” The chapter of the city’s code titled, “Boards, Committees and Commissions” does not mention the School Committee; however, the committee is included under the definition of “board” in a different section of the code.
Beck believes that the rule was not intended to apply to the School Committee.
Unlike other city boards like the Board of Ethics or the Parks and Recreation Committee, whose members are appointed by the council, School Committee members are elected separately by the public.
“Each body is independently elected and each body has their own code of ethics,” Beck said, adding that the previous paragraph in the charter mentions the School Committee by name separately.
Beck said she’s proceeding now with the understanding that she’ll be on the ballot and working to “see how best I can help serve the school department and the superintendent.”
Although the rule barring family members from serving on city boards has been in place for more than a decade, Ben Sprague was sworn in as a School Committee member in 2021 while Jonathan Sprague served a City Council term from 2020 to 2023. Neither responded to requests for comment Tuesday.
Clare Davitt, who sat on the City Council from 2017 to 2023, told the Bangor Daily News that she’s not sure why the city solicitor, city manager or council chair at the time didn’t bring up the charter rule when the Spragues served.
“I regret not raising the issue publicly,” Davitt said.
The provision was originally added to the charter as part of a package of amendments approved by voters in 2010. Many of those changes, such as updates to the process for recalling elected officials, were recommended by a citizen review committee, but the rule about family members serving on city boards was added later in the process by city councilors at the time.
The addition of the measure was seemingly directed at then-Councilor Geoff Gratwick, whose wife, Lucy Quimby, served on citizen committees.
While it appears the city will allow Beck to be on the ballot in November, it’s unclear what will happen if she is ultimately not allowed to serve.
The charter does not clearly outline how seats should be filled when there aren’t enough eligible candidates to fill the number of open seats, although it does say that vacancies “caused by the death, resignation, removal from the City or removal from office of any member of the City Council or School Committee” may be filled at the next regular election or via special election, at the discretion of the City Council.
That suggests the School Committee could have an unfilled seat for the upcoming year, which is set to be a pivotal one for the committee as it moves toward a decision on whether to preserve Bangor’s neighborhood school system or consolidate schools in the face of declining enrollment and aging facilities.
“It’s unfortunate that more people didn’t want to step up to serve and be part of our school committee,” Beck said. “It’s a really important role to fill in our community. Our children are our greatest asset and biggest investment.”