Belfast City Council members and Mayor Samantha Paradis meet in August 2018. (Ethan Andrews /Republican Journal)
BELFAST (AP) — A Maine City Council has voted to stop its mayor from speaking on their behalf, citing a recent opinion piece in which she criticized her experience in council meetings.
The Bangor Daily News reports the Belfast City Council voted unanimously for the measure Tuesday night and also voted 3-2 to leave the Mayors’ Coalition on Jobs and Economic Development.
Councilor Eric Sanders says Mayor Samantha Paradis’ letter to the Republican Journal was “inaccurate, misleading and self-serving.”
Paradis wrote in the piece that council members preferred for her to be seen and not heard, and that she has encountered sexism, ageism and bigotry while on the job.
The 27-year-old says it’s her First Amendment right to share her feelings. She says the council’s vote is a political attempt to “escalate things.”
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