While Auburn fumed, Mayor Normand Guay baked in the Florida sunshine. It’s far from Emperor Nero fiddling while Rome burned, but Guay’s extended tropical absence has certainly overheated relationships among city councilors left to manage Auburn’s business.

On Monday, the Auburn City Council spent the bulk of its workshop arguing about selection of an interim mayor during Guay’s vacation. What should have been an informal – and brief – discussion turned into a nonproductive runaround on proper procedure and public perception.

Before his vacation and without consulting his peers, Guay appointed Councilor Kelly Matzen as his interim replacement. The appointment caused consternation, with councilors rightly responding that only the board has the power to choose the mayor pro-tem.

A conclusion to this drama will come during a meeting Monday, when a caucus of councilors will elect an interim, following procedure spelled out in Auburn’s city charter.

It’s a little late.

Matzen is a well-qualified and logical choice as pro-tem. So, why wasn’t the procedure followed in the first place?

Monday’s meeting would have been head-scratching enough, even if tax bills in Auburn were not mailed last week. Residents told the Sun Journal they are resigned to paying higher property taxes – swiftly becoming a staple of life in Maine – but wonder whether the money is properly spent.

“They can move things around, phase in property values here and change the tax rates there, but it’s the city spending that starts it,” Fred Carpentier, who lives on Cook Street, said. “They waste money, and this is what happens.”

With tax bills mailed, councilors in Auburn now have an even greater mandate to prove to residents that their tax dollars are spent wisely. Accomplishing that starts with efficient, and sensible, leaders who make the easy choices quickly to clear time to tackle the more challenging.

Hiccups, like Matzen’s non-procedural appointment, get in the way of progress.

Auburn has serious decisions ahead, including development of the Great Falls Plaza and a multimillion dollar parking garage, without a clear plan on how to proceed. These decisions have real implications for taxpayers and they deserve the council’s full attention.

Most immediately pressing is the status of a grant application for a study of combined services with Lewiston. The deadline for that application is Monday, but it appears city leaders have done little on this topic over the past several months.

Citizens have taken a special interest in monitoring council actions after some recent blunders. The scrutiny appears to have made councilors cautious and concerned about public reception. Good.

“We have been accused in the past of violating our council rules on things like executive sessions,” Councilor Belinda Gerry said. “I don’t want to create another thing where the public can come back and say we did the wrong thing.”

The debate during Monday’s workshop is exactly the kind of thing the public should criticize. Auburn’s charter outlines a procedure for appointing an interim mayor. The charter should have been followed without debate.