The Ellsworth City Council narrowly approved a policy that bars its members from raising issues during the citizens’ comments portion of their meetings on Monday.
The councilor who is affected most by this policy is Steve O’Halloran, who since being elected last fall has made a habit of going to the podium in the council’s chamber to tell his fellow councilors whatever is on his mind. The unusual practice was allowed but seldom — if ever — used in Ellsworth previously.
On Monday, O’Halloran’s comments from the podium were brief. He complimented the city’s code enforcement office for providing “a great service” when it recently conducted a fire inspection at his transport services company, and then went back to his council seat.
Dale Hamilton, the council chairman, did not take issue with O’Halloran’s innocuous remarks, but said he has concerns about councilors using the citizens’ comments portion of the meeting to bring up an issue that could be an agenda item.
A local resident can say whatever she or he wants, within certain time restrictions, during the standing agenda item, Hamilton said. But a councilor can have whatever topic she or he wants to talk about placed on the council’s next monthly meeting agenda.
Because the city charter prohibits any item from being added to the council’s agenda after the city has given the public advance notice of the meeting — unless there’s a unanimous vote to do so — Hamilton thinks O’Halloran’s penchant for broaching topics not on the agenda could be considered a charter violation.
Hamilton said Monday that he worries that other councilors will follow suit.
“I think it is a slippery slope. I look at it as the potential landslide it could create,” Hamilton said, adding that it’s not about O’Halloran specifically.
O’Halloran, who has butted heads previously with Hamilton and Councilor Marc Blanchette, insisted that he had a right to speak at meetings under citizens’ comments, just as any Ellsworth resident does. He said that more than once, when he has had topics placed on the council agenda, the council has quickly voted to table the item indefinitely, cutting off further discussion.
“I would ask this council not to strip me of my citizenship rights,” O’Halloran said. “I did not forfeit my citizenship when I was elected to this board.”
Other Maine municipalities allow elected councilors to speak on items not on their meeting agendas.
In Bangor, the city council has a practice of allowing council members to make closing remarks at the end of the meetings about anything they wish.
In Bar Harbor, the elected council has a standing councilor comments agenda item, when council members can make brief comments on whatever topic they want, regardless of whether it is listed as a separate agenda item or not.
Jeff Dobbs, a longtime member of the Bar Harbor council and its former chairman, said Tuesday that town councilors usually take the opportunity to suggest an agenda topic for their next meeting, or maybe to make an announcement about a community event.
He said the item is not used as an opportunity for any councilor to initiate a discussion about town business. Any attempt to do so, he said, would get shut down by the town council chairman with a suggestion that it be put on their next meeting agenda.
“We’ve been doing it for years,” Dobbs said. “Usually people will say something nice about another councilor. You can’t get into anything for debate.”
On Monday, Ellsworth city councilors Michelle Kaplan and Gene Lyons expressed sympathy with O’Halloran’s position, though they also said they could see Hamilton’s point about the practice potentially getting out of hand. In the end, they unsuccessfully opposed the ban in the 4-3 vote.
“I would err on the side of freedom of speech,” Kaplan said, noting that the city was recently sued — and then settled out of court — when a citizen was denied the chance to speak at a school board meeting.
Hamilton said the issue is not about freedom of speech. He said O’Halloran can sponsor any topic of discussion he wants at any city council meeting — he just has to go through the proper procedure as outlined in the city charter.
“You don’t have the right to do anything you want under the guise of freedom of speech,” Hamilton said.
