Sidman Sells Councilor Recall Petition at Cruise Ship Meeting

BAR HARBOR—During a cruise ship discussion hosted and moderated by Charles Sidman, October 1, Sidman said that he planned to have a recall petition during the election in November.

Sidman is the lead petitioner in the citizen’s initiative that resulted in the current Chapter 52 of the Town of Bar Harbor’s land use ordinance controlling cruise ship disembarkation of passengers and has sued the town. There is one count left in that suit.

At the YWCA, Town Hill resident Diane Vreeland said during the discussion on potential disembarkation limit changes, “I think it is important to vote out the Council, as who voted for this.”

“Well, that is a separate issue; it’s not on the ballot on November 5. I will tell you, I will tell you, that when you come to vote, if you come to vote in person on November 5, and you go through the auditorium, gymnasium, to cast your vote, as you come out and go by the Council chamber, I am going to be there with a recall petition for you to sign to get it on to a legitimate ballot next year in 2025. To be able to recall town councilors. We don’t have it now, other towns have it. But I think we need it. So, put it on the ballot, help me put it on the ballot, if you think that’s worthwhile,” Sidman said.

The State of Maine does not require that towns have a recall process for municipal officials and Maine Statute only provides for one situation where a municipal official can be recalled in Title 30-A, Chapter 121, Section 2505, Paragraph 9, which reads, “Limitation of recall. An elected official may be the subject of a recall petition under this section only if the official is convicted of a crime, the conduct of which occurred during the official's term of office and the victim of which is the municipality.”  

The Town of Bar Harbor Charter, Chapter C, Section C-12, Paragraph B (c) paraphrases the Maine statute, but is a little more loosely worded, reading, “is convicted of a crime or offense which is reasonably related to his/her inability to serve as Councilor.”

In order to recall a municipal official for any other reason, the town’s voters must enact recall language in either the town ordinance or the town charter. This is allowed in Maine statute under Title 30-A, Chapter 123, Section 2602, Paragraph 6, which reads, “Home rule authority. Under its home rule authority, a municipality may apply different provisions governing the existence of vacancies in municipal offices and the method of filling those vacancies as follows:  

• “A. Any change in the provisions of this section relating to a school committee must be accomplished by charter; and   

• “B. Any change in the provisions of this section relating to any other municipal office may be accomplished by charter or ordinance.” 

A school committee member recall process can only be within a town’s charter.

In order to have a broader municipal official recall process for the Town of Bar Harbor, a registered Bar Harbor voter, or the Town Council, would have to get it on a ballot so that town voters can decide whether to enact it in either the town’s charter or a town ordinance. On October 1, Sidman made it publicly known that he was going to attempt to do just that.

According to Maine statute, that petition must be signed by “a number of voters equal to at least 10% of the number of votes cast in the town at the last gubernatorial election.” For Bar Harbor that number at the last gubernatorial would make it 10% of 3098 or 310.

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