GORHAM – The Gorham Town Council is expected to make another attempt on Tuesday, July 1, to define “moral turpitude” in its town rules, and the whole issue could go to voters in November.
At the council’s May meeting, the board, after grappling at length with an effort to define it, postponed action on the issue to its July meeting. Under Gorham’s Town Charter, a town councilor could be removed, if deemed guilty of violating moral turpitude, but it’s unclear what constitutes it.
The moral turpitude matter came up for the second time in two years when Town Councilor Benjamin Hartwell was summonsed in March for operating under the influence. A lawyer representing Hartwell entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his client.
Hartwell is scheduled for a dispositional conference on July 29.
The moral turpitude issue first surfaced in 2012 when Town Councilor Suzanne Phillips was convicted of operating under the influence. But she was not dismissed from serving on the Gorham Town Council.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
