AUGUSTA — One of two bills aimed at addressing municipal corruption or conflicts of interest is going nowhere at the State House.
A measure to prohibit an elected town officer from also being a paid town employee was rejected late Monday night by the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee.
The panel’s 10-2 vote against L.D. 1297 suggests that most committee members side with the concept of self-rule, in which municipalities, not the state government, address such issues through local ordinances.
Another bill before the committee, L.D. 1533, would make it easier for towns without charters to recall municipal officials. That legislation got a public hearing Tuesday and is scheduled for a vote today.
The committee’s rejection of L.D. 1297 came as a relief to Melissa Patterson, an elected member of the Benton select board who also works as a town office clerk.
The legislation was sponsored by Rep. H. David Cotta, R-China, who is a co-chairman of the State and Local Government Committee. Cotta said he introduced the bill after learning about Patterson’s dual roles.
“Representative Cotta was the sponsor of it, and him being the co-chair on the committee, I really didn’t think I stood a chance,” Patterson said Tuesday. “So I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. I really do think I can do the town of Benton a good job, because I wouldn’t be in the position if I didn’t think I could help.”
Cotta said he introduced the bill to address what he sees as a key principle in municipal government: “You can’t be your own boss.”
But only he and Rep. Anne P. Graham, D-North Yarmouth, voted in favor of the bill.
Cotta said Tuesday that he stands behind the principle, but in light of the committee’s vote he will withdraw the bill. “I think the concept is valid, but the timing is wrong,” he said.
The Maine Municipal Association’s policy committee decided last month to oppose Cotta’s legislation, said spokesman Eric Conrad. The association worried that communities with small populations might have difficulty recruiting people for public office and other municipal functions with the proposed restriction, he said.
Patterson, who testified against the bill along with other Benton officials at a public hearing last week, says there is no conflict of interest between her two town positions because she doesn’t mix business.
“As a selectman, it’s not possible to give myself a pay raise; town meeting is where those decisions happen,” Patterson said.
The other bill concerning municipal officials, L.D. 1533, was introduced by Rep. Deborah Sanderson, a Republican, who has cited trouble in her hometown of Chelsea.
Selectwoman Carole Swan was charged in February with aggravated forgery, attempted theft and two counts of improper compensation for services. Swan has not resigned her seat. The bill is aimed at allowing citizens to recall her from office.
The Maine Municipal Association opposes the bill, saying towns already have the power to adopt their own recall ordinances.
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