Bar Harbor Likely Needs To Grant Public Access and Notice For Many Working Group Workshops and Meetings
Meet the potential town manager Tuesday
BAR HARBOR—As the town delves into workshops on its subcommittees and into creating potential memorandums of agreement for cruise ship lines that will go into effect if the town loses its court case upholding changes to cruise ship limits and disembarkation rules, there is some question about whether Bar Harbor has been properly noticing those workshops.
Bar Harbor, like many towns, has been running under the belief that if there were only two town councilors (or other board members) doing work together at a meeting with town staff and others, those meetings did not have to be publicly noticed.
The state indicated that those meetings do have to be noticed so that the public is aware when they are happening and also that the public can attend those meetings. However, records of those meetings do not have to be kept per the state’s rules.
Patrick Kilbride, a Bar Harbor resident, had sent an email to the Town Council and the state’s ombudsman Brenda Kielty. Kielty was appointed in 2012 and is the first to hold that state position.
According to the state,
“The Maine Legislature created a Public Access Ombudsman position to review complaints about compliance with the Freedom of Access Act and attempt to mediate their resolution, as well as answer calls from the public, media, and government agencies about the requirements of the law. The Ombudsman is also responsible for providing educational materials about the law and preparing advisory opinions and works closely with the Right to Know Advisory Committee in monitoring new developments and considering improvements to the law.”
On October 6, Kilbride reached out to Kielty and the Town Council after a Town Council meeting where there was discussion about a working group that would look into the town’s subcommittees. That group contains two town councilors as does a working group about the town’s cruise ship agreements.
Kilbride’s email was then apparently forwarded to the town’s attorney for legal comment. The attorney contacted Kielty.
Kilbride, after receiving the email, then responded that he was talking about the town’s working group on subcommittees, not the town’s working group creating the memorandums of agreement with the cruise lines, which is what Wagner’s email to Kielty looked for advice on.
Town Council Chair Valerie Peacock said Saturday morning,
“The questions raised by Mr. Kilbride about public processes are important. We’ve responded by seeking an opinion from our legal representation to clarify what constitutes a public body that is required to notice meetings under FOAA. The town attorney will send additional correspondence to Ms. Kielty to clarify that position.
“Coincidentally, there are currently two areas that require work outside of Council meetings—renegotiating the MOAs and conducting a comprehensive review of town committees. While I may have chosen some unfortunate language to describe the work and the formation of committees at our last few meetings, my intention was the exact opposite of what is being implied. The intention is to make this work transparent to the community, get the work done, and to work in a way that doesn’t violate FOAA requirements. Both sets of work will require public input including: presentations to the council, motions to adopt recommendations, public hearings on any ordinance changes, and/or town meeting votes, if necessary.
“We’ll be continuing our conversation about the work to examine committees at our meeting on Tuesday. No action has been taken, yet. We’ve added public comment on every item on the agenda for Town Council meetings if anyone would like to participate.”
The next Town Council meeting is Tuesday at the town’s Municipal Building on Cottage Street across from Hannaford’s. The Council Chambers are on the third floor. The meetings are also streamed here.
POTENTIAL NEW TOWN MANAGER MEET AND GREET
A meet and greet with James Smith is planned before the October 17 meeting, at 5:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building lobby.
To contact The Ombudsman
By phone: 207-626-8577
By mail
Office of the Attorney General
Public Access Ombudsman
6 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333
By email: Brenda.Kielty@maine.gov
Most recent Council packet and agenda.
To contact the Town Councilors, emails and phones are listed here.