Black Helicopters and UFOS: How and Whether to Tweak Public Comment at Council Meetings Dives into Free Speech Discussion
Short-term rental violation heads to town attorney, APPLL Update, state ends senior-tax-assistance program
BAR HARBOR—Appeals Board Chair Ellen Dohmen stood before the Town Council last night and gave an impassioned speech about opening up public discussion at the council’s meeting.
“Somebody comes because they feel they have something to share with you,” Dohmen said. “We can’t think of everything and that’s why we’re looking for the town to participate.” The more the council embraces that with open arms, the less confrontation and conflict will take place. “I think this is the first step in opening our dialogue. Yes, we elected you, but we also elected you to listen to us.”
Dohmen is also the former Planning Board chair. “When someone takes their dinner hour, their time from the family,” and comes to her meeting, she says, she is truly humbled and honored “And I think we have to remember that. They are taking their time.”
If people take the time to show up they have to be acknowledged and honored. True democracy, she says, has to be participatory.
Dohmen’s words came during a discussion on the council’s rules of order, which centered on public discourse. The Bar Harbor Town Council’s agenda August 1 may have been light, but it wasn’t short as the group tackled whether or not to tweak its rules about public comment at meetings during its yearly discussion of the rules of the meetings, which is mandated by the same policy about rules of the meetings.
The rules of the meeting are often called “rules of order.” Some rules are mandated by the town’s charter, which is the document that incorporates the town as a municipal and legal entity.
WHAT THE RULES CURRENTLY ARE
Currently the rules mandate that:
The council meets once a month.
Those meetings are at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Monday. They happen at the Municipal Building unless the Council votes to not have a meeting. The council can also vote to change the time and location.
If it’s 10 p.m., and the meeting is still going on, the Council will finish the unfinished business and end the meeting right after that. If it’s 10 and they are in the middle of a new business item, they’ll finish that and then adjourn. All the new business items on the agenda will be left until the next regular meeting.
To have a special meeting, the Council Chair, or the town manager or three (or more) members have to agree and call it.
All the policies get reviewed each year.
The rules also state the order of the items on the agenda.
The rules also stipulate how the agenda is made.
The town manager gets the agenda ready and can consult the chair and/or vice chair.
The agenda is hopefully given to councilors three days before the meeting. It’s posted on the municipal building’s bulletin board and emailed to those who request it simultaneously.
For an item to be on the agenda, it has to be given to the town manager by Wednesday, 5 p.m., the week before the Tuesday meeting.
Agenda items can only be added after that Wednesday deadline if the majority of members present at the meeting agree. There are, however, stipulations about adding those items after the agenda is published. Those items should be added if it would be significantly inconvenient if those matters aren’t included at that meeting. An item can also be added if “the routine nature of the request is expected to be of little public interest.”
To change what’s on the agenda, the councilors can vote during the meeting. A majority has to agree to the change.
When it comes to the public comment, the current rules state:
Limit the public comment to three minutes per speaker
Limit the discussion to only items not on the agenda and not in litigation.
Position the public comment period to the fourth item on the agenda behind the call to order, reading of the meeting ground rules, and committee appointments.
Do not allow the council chair to respond to public comment.
If there is a public hearing on an agenda item during the meeting, the public is allowed to speak during that public hearing. Again, this is allowed for three-minutes per person. Though there are rules under the public hearing portion of the rules of order specifying stepping up to the microphone and stating your name and that audience members are supposed to refrain from audibly responding to speakers, those rules are not in the public comment period portion of the document.
Public hearing rules state:
The guidelines may be read prior to the beginning of a public hearing, these mention it not being a forum for debate, audience members should not applaud or react, and there should be no side conversations and other distractions.
Three minutes per speaker.
Going to the microphone, saying your name and your address.
Being brief, on point, and respectful.
The rules also define quorum (four members); that the votes are roll call and must be recorded; that a majority is usually needed to pass an item; and the rules for public comment, public hearings, and what is unfinished business and new business.
Unfinished business is something that requires the councilors to act. New business is where those topics first hopefully go up for discussion. In a perfect scenario, items go to new business and then at another meeting move onto unfinished business.
The rules also explain executive session votes, and that councilors are meant to vote on all issues unless there is a “valid conflict of interest.” Abstentions are considered a vote with the majority if there is no conflict of interest causing that abstention.
WHAT THEY DISCUSSED POTENTIALLY CHANGING
There were five main areas that different councilors put forth as potential areas to change:
A plain English version of the rules of order
When public comment happens during the meeting
Limiting meetings to 9:30 p.m. rather than 10 p.m.
Whether to add additional language about the flavor of public comment
Length of presentations before the council
DISCUSSION
The council spent a significant amount of time discussing how they felt about potential changes, most of which came from new councilors Maya Caines and Earl Brechlin. Each of Caines’ suggestions came with a goal for that suggestion, most dealing with increased public engagement.
Caines suggested a plain English version of the rules so that it could be more user-friendly to the public and the council. Some councilors worried that it would be a replacement to the current rules where some are state mandated. Caines stressed that they would not be a replacement, but a supplement.
Council Chair Valerie Peacock suggested moving back the meeting end time from 10 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. since the meetings now start at 6:30 rather than 7. There seemed to be agreement about this.
Caines had suggested that most presentations before the council be limited to ten minutes with room for expansion when necessary for in-depth projects such as the pay-as-you-throw proposal that came before Town Council in the past. Though this seemed to be generally supported, the councilors didn’t jump on board, worrying about limiting the time despite the wiggle room Caines had mentioned.
Most of the discussion centered around public comment. Brechlin suggested moving public comment closer to the end of the meeting and also allowing discussion on agenda items. Currently, the public comment is limited to three minutes and not allowed about any agenda items or current litigation. Brechlin didn’t suggest extending the time, but he did suggest allowing the public to speak on agenda items, even if they were under new business. Councilors then discussed whether the chair could just call for that at each item or if it should all be allowed during just the public comment time.
“Right now everyone can talk about black helicopters and flying saucers because it’s not on the agenda,” Brechlin said of the current open-discussion council public comments time.
Brechlin said that he wants to solicit public comment on issues on the agenda, particularly if 30 people are at a meeting because of that agenda item. He wanted the portion of the agenda for public comment to be on equal footing with the councilors and manager’s comments, which is why he moved it to the end of the agenda, which is closer to where those comments are.
Peacock and Caines thought it was more accessible at beginning of the meeting.
Bobby Kagel, a visiting county administrator from Chester County, Pennsylvania, said his county has two public comment periods. At the beginning there’s a public comment period about the agenda items. Bar Harbor’s Comprehensive Planning Committee and Cruise Ship Committee do as well.
Councilor Matthew Hochman said that it is currently a council agenda item to allow public comment during that public comment period at the beginning of the meeting. Some agenda items do have public hearings, which means that there is time for public comment. “Not everything that we do has a public hearing component, so I’m always one for hearing what the public has to say.” But, he said, that he thinks there needs to be some time constraints and limits.
Friedmann said that allowing public comment about all the agenda items could extend the meetings to five hours, which is a meeting time that has happened in the past. That is unfair to staff, he said. The chair can have discretion to allow an expert from the audience to talk, which is what happened at the council’s last meeting, when Atlantic Avenue residents spoke about the water issue on the road. Also, he said, people can email councilors their opinions, call them, or stop them at the grocery store.
Shank said that he has yet to be stopped at the grocery store.
Caines said that if the council is going to allow people to speak, then it can’t pick and choose. Sometimes people in the audience might have expertise and the councilors may not know it. She said, “It needs to be never or always. I just don’t think that’s fair.”
Brechlin said he thought to not allow people to share their thoughts could engender an aloofness that’s not constructive for getting things done in a community.
He said, “We need to err on the side of hearing people because not having the opportunity to do that is erring on the side of the bigger sin.”
Back and forth conversations for non-agenda items isn’t allowed under the open-meeting laws. However, councilors speak about items not on the agenda during their council comments.
“You guys are opening yourself up to something you don’t realize,” Friedmann said of asking for public comment after every agenda item.
“Is that not our job to listen to people’s thoughts on things?” Caines asked. The public, she said, is getting new information at meetings and that their job is to listen to constituents and use that information to make those decisions.
Shank said that he understood the risk, but the beauty of the system is that it will be apparent to everyone if it goes off the rails and that they can undo the policy change. The minority voices feel that the council isn’t hearing all the voices in the community and the onus is on the council to show that they are hearing that and to try to fix it.
Hochman said of the changes, “If we find it’s not working, we can change it.”
AD HOMINEM ATTACKS
The other big discussion was about whether to add Brechlin’s suggested language about the type of discourse allowed during the public comment section.
That language is: “Personal insults and ad hominem attacks are not allowed.”
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary:
Peacock said she gets nervous about determining what an “ad hominem” attack is. She needs more clarity about what that means because when people are upset with the council, they have a right to be upset and express that.
Hochman wondered if it’s the right to express those thoughts over and over again. When does a repeated allegation become an attack? Friedmann asked. “It changes from making your point to an attack,” Friedmann said.
Caines said limiting and adding language around personal insults gets to freedom of speech and expression and that she doesn’t feel comfortable limiting. She said she would feel uncomfortable stopping people from speaking. Shank agreed, saying that people can come and say things every single council meeting. He doesn’t believe repetition makes something an insult. “There can be virtue to repetition even if it is not always pleasant.”
Peacock stressed multiple times throughout the discussion that she was worried that without clear rules, she, as chair, could make unintentionally biased decisions when determining when to cut off discussion or determine what was an ad hominem attack.
PACKET DELIVERY
Prior to every council meeting, council packets are delivered to the councilors at their residences by members of the Bar Harbor Police Department. Those packets contain what is online as well as confidential information and sometimes mailings.
Caines said that people in her neighborhood were concerned about that. “I was on Strawberry Hill and thought, ‘Is Matt getting served?’” she joked.
Town Clerk Liz Graves said that the police have asked her if they could discontinue it too, particularly in the winter when weather may make travel to some councilor’s homes a bit treacherous. Typically, if there was a noon deadline, it would keep the packet delivery from occurring at night.
However, she said, “I can tell you what deadline we set, I won’t always meet.” Graves said for the PD it’s not a concern about paying for time; there was a safety concern this past winter. “I can help their safety by getting done in the day.”
Friedmann said that it was expensive to mail the packets and if they weren’t ready by a certain time, they wouldn’t get them via mail in time for the meeting.
WHAT IS NEXT
Town Clerk Liz Graves will take the suggestions and create a revised policy for the council to approve, discuss more, disapprove or tweak at another public meeting.
SHORT TERM RENTAL VIOLATION
The Town Council unanimously agreed to authorize an attorney to file an enforcement action against a former Town Council candidate, Keith Goodrich, for having what it called an illegal rental.
Code Enforcement Officer Angela Chamberlain said it came to her attention that a property on Eden Street was acting as a short-term rental but did not have a current license. Goodrich lives in the property and rents out rooms, some of them, she said, fall under short-term rentals.
This classifies the rental as a VR-1, which according to the town’s land use ordinance is “a dwelling unit, or portion thereof, that is the primary residence of the property owner or on the owner’s primary residence property and is rented to a person or a group for less than 30 days and a minimum of two nights. The rental of a portion of the dwelling, such as a bedroom, must be located in the principal structure housing the dwelling unit.”
VR-2s are rentals that are not owner occupied and are capped at 9% of the town’s current housing stock.
Goodrich, Chamberlain said, had been a VR-1 but hasn’t registered this year.
Chamberlain said that on June 20, she sent a certified notice of violation. It came back from the post office on July 7. On July 19, she said, the police department hand delivered two violations, including this one. The other was for a sign that says, “Bar Harbor Welcomes All.” The sign was strung up on the fence outside of Goodrich’s property. The sign was not discussed at the meeting nor any potential freedom of speech implications.
When she wrote the memo to the councilors on July 24, the short-term rental was still being advertised, she said.
The council had two options. It could authorize the town attorney to file an enforcement action in court or enter a consent agreement with Goodrich.
Councilor Matthew Hochman said that if Goodrich or other violators hadn’t accepted the certified letter, there seems to be no reason to enter a consent agreement with that person.
The council unanimously accepted the code enforcement officer’s report as presented and then the council unanimously approved authorizing the town attorney to file that enforcement action.
Chamberlain said they are getting very close to purchasing the short-term registration program to help them locate violating properties.
APPLL vs TOWN OF BAR HARBOR
The town councilors went into executive to discuss the lawsuit against the town’s voted in cruise ship disembarkation limits.
The schedule for those parties involved to file post-trial briefs has been set.
APPLL and the Penobscot Bay and River Pilots Association need to file by or on September 1. The town and Charles Sidman must file by October 6. Then APPLL and the pilots association must file by October 27.
The findings also give page limits of 55 or 35 pages.
Judge Lance Walker will then give a ruling after the post-trial briefs are all filed and reviewed.
OTHER BUSINESS
Joe Minutolo was absent from the meeting. The councilors unanimously signed the treasurer’s warrant to pay bills. The council unanimously approved a resolution thanking retiring Police Chief Jim Willis for his service. Willis was not at the meeting.
SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PERMITS
Atlantic Oceanside at 119 Eden St, requested a renewal of a Class 3ad, three or more musicians with mechanical amplification and dancing. There was no public comment. There was no discussion and it was unanimously approved.
The 1932 Criterion Theatre at 35 Cottage St, requested a renewal of a Class 4, any other type of entertainment. There was no public comment. There was no discussion and it was unanimously approved.
PUBLIC COMMENT
During the public comment portion of the meeting, resident Annlinn Kruger called for an accounting for an interaction last year with former Town Manager Kevin Sutherland. Sutherland resigned in January.
The actions were about her chalking project, which involves Kruger chalking messages about conservative activist and funder Leonard Leo who lives a part of the year in Northeast Harbor. Kruger wanted to know about money potentially diverted from public works to make erasing her messages a priority, and also alleged that she’d been threatened with criminal charges by Sutherland.
She said it was a small thing compared to big issues like cruise ships and collusion with wealthy people, however, “stonewalling people and sweeping things under the rug and circling the wagons,” going into executive sessions, weren’t good operating procedure. Bar Harbor deserves better, she said.
TOWN MANAGER’S COMMENTS
Interim Town Manager and Finance Director Sarah Gilbert said that the town’s bond rating via two agencies came back at the highest rating for one and at an exceptionally high rating for another, which would help with the sale of the $55 million school bond.
She also mentioned that the state’s senior tax stabilization has been repealed. It does not impact this month’s tax bills, but will be in effect moving forward.
COUNCILOR COMMENTS
Shank blessed the multiple, high-quality camps like the Camp Beech Cliff, SFOA, COA, and YMCA and the school board’s summer programs. “I think our time would grind to a halt,” without them, he said. He added that there should be a tourist management plan discussion, a holistic strategy to manage tourism.
Caines thanked a visiting county commissioner for coming to their meeting.
Peacock said the town manager search is open until Thursday. Packets of resumes will be put together on Monday and then sent to the councilors. “I think time is not on our side,” she said of the process. She suggested a special meeting to discuss the resumes on Monday August 14.
Senior Tax Stabilization Update
The town’s press release reads as follows:
The LD 290 “Property Tax Stabilization for Senior Citizens” program, enacted in August 2022, was repealed by the Maine Legislature on July 6, 2023 with an effective date of October 11, 2023. The repeal of this program means there will be no reapplication process and no need to follow-up with the town’s assessing department. Although the program has been repealed, your initial application will still be administered this year for the 2023-2024 billing cycle, with a tax amount equal to that of the 2022-2023 billing cycle.
To help lower-income seniors avoid higher property taxes and remain in their homes, two existing State programs are being expanded.
The Property Tax Fairness Credit, which currently allows eligible Mainers to take a $1,500 credit, has increased to $2,000; it also loosens the limits on the program in a way that allows the benefits to remain constant for a Mainer whose spouse passes away. Note: This program is not administered by the Town of Bar Harbor; to claim the credit, you must file Form 1040ME and Schedule PTFC/STFC for the tax year during which the property tax or rent was paid. For help, call (207) 624-9784. For more info, visit https://www.maine.gov/revenue/taxes/tax-relief-credits-programs/income-tax-credits/property-tax-fairness-credit.
The Property Tax Deferral Program, a lifeline loan program that covers the annual property tax bills of Maine seniors age 65 and older who cannot afford to pay them on their own, has been expanded. It doubles the income limit on that program to $80,000 and also raises asset limits. Taxes must be paid back when the home is sold or becomes part of an estate. Note: This program is administered by the State; however, applications must be filed with the Assessor’s Office between January 1 and April 1 each year. Applications are forwarded to Maine Revenue Services who review and make the determination for acceptance and approval. Questions can be referred to Maine Revenue Services Property Tax Division at (207) 624-5600 or prop.tax@maine.gov. For more info, visit https://www.maine.gov/revenue/taxes/tax-relief-credits-programs/property-tax-relief-programs/deferral-program.
It is important to note that these are State programs and while the Town plays a role in the administration of them, the Town is not responsible for the policy objectives of these initiatives. Any questions or concerns you may have regarding this program should be directed to your legislative representative.
Not at all surprised that Earl Brechlin wants to move Public Comments to the end of the meeting and to prejudicially censor the public's comments. Brechlin has an anti democratic bent which he indulges under the guise of civility. He has quoted G.W.Bush's comment that 'the opposite of civility is chaos' to condemn all sorts of things he doesn't like. Brechlin ignores that while Bush may have been mannerly, his executive administrative decisions - such as basing the invasion of Iraq on lies and magical thinking - lead to deadly military and civic chaos. The opposite of what Bush and Brechlin mean by civility - ie smiley face congeniality in public and behind the scenes rule by in-group prejudice - is candor. Which is what Public Comments should be. And what the council needs more of.
Nor am I surprised that some on the council bristle at having to spend 3 minutes now and then listening to the same concerns. This is a situation of the councilors' making. If they choose to stonewall, denigrate, dismiss and ignore Public Comments - to stifle public participation and calls for government transparency - then it's actually giving councilors the benefit of the doubt to keep 'knocking on the door' in hopes that they will do more than stick their fingers in their ears and stick out their tongues.