2019.02.25 Council Agenda Item 08
Summary
Order to schedule a public hearing on a proposed revision to the Town Charter, Section 402.
A public comment period will be included (3 minutes per person).
ACTION: Council action is anticipated.
Description
The Charter Review Commission convened in July 2018, and presented proposed Charter revisions to the Town Council in September. A public hearing was held and the revisions were placed on the November ballot. In October, Town Attorney Amy Tchao discovered an issue with one of the recommended changes in Section 402, which would prohibit employees of either the Town or the Library from serving on the School Board. A similar provision was found to be an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment by the Maine Law Court in 2013 (Callaghan v. City of South Portland).
Since absentee voting had already begun before the issue was uncovered, Atty. Tchao recommended that the Council, under the authority granted in 30-A MRS §2104, place a corrective amendment on the June 2019 ballot to remove the prohibition. On October 22, the Council adopted a resolution supporting passage of the November referendum and committing to the proposed corrective course of action.
The originally proposed revisions, which were approved by the voters on November 6, 2018, do not take effect until July 1, 2019. If a referendum to amend section 402 is approved by the voters in June, the offending language will be removed before it takes effect.
A copy of the Attorney's revised opinion letter, the proposed amendment, the October 2018 Council resolution, and the relevant statute are attached.
