Twenty-six residents attended the workshop.
WEST PARIS – A workshop on a possible recall ordinance for West Paris was held Wednesday to finalize the language of an ordinance, which is expected to become an article at the March town meeting.
If such an ordinance should be approved, it would allow the town’s voters to recall any municipal official, with the exception of a school board representative. It would be enacted based on rules and regulations set down by Maine laws.
However, according to town attorney Geoff Hole, residents should consider such an ordinance very carefully before they vote to put it on the books.
“The first crossroad is whether or not you want to do this or not,” Hole said. “You need to think about the effect this will have on people in office and those who might be running. Even though this is a small town and it wouldn’t be as complex, the situation in California demonstrates what a circus this can be. You need to consider this very carefully.”
Explaining the reason that some people in West Paris wish to bring the issue before the voters, resident Jane Perham said, “The only thing we would hope for from this would be to gain some accountability. This is not directed at anyone in this room. But it’s not good to have your hands tied behind your back as a citizen after an elected official is placed in office.”
By petition
The ordinance would say that a petition to recall an elected official could be submitted to the selectmen if it contained signatures from 10 percent of the registered voters from the last gubernatorial election. That would have to be at least 60 signatures. It would also state the name of the office of the person whose removal was being sought, a specific statement about the reason for a removal and the name of at least five people circulating the petition. All signatures would have to be confirmed to assure that all were legal residents of the town.
In the proposed ordinance, there also are clauses about interim powers in order to prevent disruption in the orderly operations of the town, clauses relating to a special election if an official is removed from office, and a specific call for a secret ballot in all cases.
At the end of the meeting, it was agreed by selectmen that Hole will formalize the language of the ordinance, there will be a public hearing later this year or early in 2004, and the issue will be put before residents at a town meeting.
Chairman Wade Rainey said, “I have always been an advocate of the people and the fact that the final say in vital matters is theirs. So we will include this in an article and see if the majority of people want this ordinance or not.”
Twenty-six residents attended Wednesday’s workshop.
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