LEWISTON — The City Council will hear a presentation on Freedom of Access Act laws from Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey on Thursday.

According to city administration, the presentation is simply a “continuation of orientation training that any new City Council members would receive,” but the training comes at a time when city officials have been under intense scrutiny, with staff fielding a high number of FOAA requests.

It’s also unusual for the state’s Attorney General to conduct such a training.

Council President Scott Harriman said Wednesday that at the start of the term, he asked city administration to provide “a more robust training” for councilors this term, “given the issues that had come up in the past.”

Last year, during the tail end of the previous council term, Frey sent a letter to councilors expressing his concern there might be a “lack of understanding” about what FOAA laws require of public officials. His comments stemmed from public concerns about a meeting between four councilors and two Planning Board members at The Cage bar on Ash Street, where city business was discussed.

Some of the details of the meeting were revealed by then-Planning Board member Josh Nagine, who is now the Ward 1 councilor. He said those at The Cage discussed topics like Central Maine Power, zoning, the Lewiston Housing Authority and school district issues.

According to Maine statute regarding freedom of access, public proceedings and deliberations must be conducted openly and records of actions must be open to public inspection. The statute also states that “clandestine meetings, conferences or meetings held on private property without proper notice and ample opportunity for attendance by the public” must not be used.

“I don’t think this sort of training is typical, especially when it’s conducted by the Attorney General himself,” Harriman said. “I think it stems directly from those issues that came up repeatedly last term.”

Harriman said Deputy City Administrator Brian O’Malley prepared a slide show on the FOAA that was presented during councilor orientation sessions. Previously, he said, each councilor was asked to review the state webpage on FOAA laws and sign a completion form.

“I greatly appreciated that more in-depth presentation, and I’m looking forward to a sort of refresher session from the Attorney General himself at tomorrow’s workshop,” he said.

When asked, Mayor Carl Sheline said “this meeting wasn’t scheduled in a vacuum” and comes as a direct result of The Cage meeting late last term.

“Transparency and trust are required for the public to have faith in their government,” he said. “I appreciate Attorney General Frey’s attention to this matter with his letter at the time, and I appreciate him coming to Lewiston to hold this workshop for us now.”

A call to Frey regarding Thursday’s meeting was not returned by late Wednesday afternoon.

As of two weeks ago, O’Malley had received 35 Freedom of Access Act requests in 2024. He received 74 FOAA requests in all of 2023.

One of the requests O’Malley received recently came from Councilor Tim Gallant, who requested emails between Councilor Scott Harriman, Councilor Susan Longchamps and Mayor Carl Sheline.

Following The Cage controversy last term, the councilors involved — Bob McCarthy, Rick LaChapelle, Larry Pease and Lee Clement — defended their actions and called the claims election-year politics. During a subsequent meeting, the four councilors removed former Councilor Linda Scott as council president and censured Harriman, claiming they manufactured the controversy.

A few weeks later, McCarthy, LaChapelle and Clement all lost their bids for reelection.

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