LEWISTON — The Office of the Maine Attorney General is leaving it up to Androscoggin County to decide whether Randall Greenwood of Wales gave up his seat on the county commission when he took his oath of office last month as a Maine legislator.

In a letter to Greenwood, Assistant Attorney General Phillis Gardiner declined to issue an opinion on his case, saying she was unconvinced that a 30-year-old opinion was invalidated by changes at the state and county level, nor was it a “legislative matter” requiring her office’s action.

However, the letter included warnings for the new legislator, who represents Wales, Litchfield and part of Monmouth at the State House and Wales, Sabattus and Lisbon for the county.

Because of his status, a vote by Greenwood on the county commission could be the basis for a lawsuit, Gardiner warned. And even the legitimacy of a meeting might be jeopardized if his attendance were needed, she said in her letter dated Dec. 16.

“County commissioner decisions in which you participate could be challenged on these grounds,” Gardiner wrote. “And the legitimacy of a particular commission meeting could be called into question if your presence is critical to achieving a quorum.”

She also recommended that he talk with the county’s attorney for clarity and resolution.

On Monday, the Sun Journal made numerous calls to Greenwood. None were answered by Monday night. A call to Commissioner Beth Bell also went unanswered.

However, Commissioner Elaine Makas said she was unsettled by Gardiner’s warnings and worried that preserving Greenwood’s position on the commission could be a distraction.

“Randy’s a nice guy. He did a good job. But I don’t feel that we need this distraction at this point in our county life,” she said. “If I were in Randy’s position, I would step down.”

It’s been a busy time for the commission.

In November, commissioners ignited controversy when they voted to overturn a dramatic pay cut in their salary passed by the Budget Committee, preserving their own more modest cut in pay and benefits. At the same time, four new commissioners were elected. They are scheduled to be sworn in Thursday, expanding the commission from three to seven members.

Greenwood’s status is likely to be one of the first subjects discussed.

Among the scheduled agenda items is County Attorney Bryan Dench’s opinion on the matter, written in a memo dated Dec. 30.

In it, Dench argues that Greenwood should not be disqualified from serving on the commission. He insists that there is little difference between members of school boards and city councils who legally serve in the Legislature, too. And since a county charter was adopted, the categorization of a commissioner as “an office of profit under this state” no longer applies, he said.

In previous interviews, Greenwood said he was hoping to avoid any fuss.

When he was elected to the county office in 2007, Maine law forced him to resign from his post as a Wales selectman. Before running for the Legislature, he called the Secretary of State’s office to make sure there would be no conflict.

A worker told him there was none, he said.

However, in the weeks leading up to the November election, the Secretary of State’s office him told there might be a problem. The office sent along the state’s most recent opinion on the issue, a 1985 opinion signed by James Tierney, Maine’s attorney general at the time.

Tierney concluded that the Maine Constitution forbade someone from simultaneously holding the offices of legislator and county commissioner.

dhartill@sunjournal.com

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