News

Pennell is moving forward

Mr. Dale said that he filed papers in court last week which would reinitiate the Pennell matter. The previous Council had lodged a lawsuit claiming that the Pennell Institute disposition comes under the School Closure Act, in which case the Maine Statutes would guide its transfer to the Town. The SAD claims that the building is in a trust and its disposition comes under the Attorney General's guidance. Under the School Closure Act, Mr. Dale said, the SAD would have to give the building and associated lands back to the town for free. The SAD said that the building and lands are and always have been in a trust and that the SAD would transfer it to the Town for fair market value, as the Attorney General had opined.

Last year, Gray citizens John Welch and Mike Salvetti researched the matter on their own and found that Pennell might have been released from under the trust. That information was presented to the previous Council, but not much was made of it. Mr. Dale said that the information Mr. Welch had found was critical to the issue and actually strengthened the Town's case.

He said, "Do not discard the information just because it did not come from Council or a lawyer. We are definitely going to argue it. The court should see all the information related to this case." Mr. Dale said that once the papers are presented and legal arguments heard from both sides, that the judge will take it under advisement. "Will we win? I do not know," Mr. Dale said, "But on balance, I think so." Mr. Dale said that the time from arguments to final decision could be between three and six months. "Just in time for your capital budget process."

Dr. Rich said that the SAD's position is that the trust is in effect and that it always has been. The Board is operating under that premise and will continue to do so unless and until a court decides otherwise. "And if is deemed the Town's property, we will hand over the keys the next minute."

Incompatibility of Office

The GPLA is a tax-exempt corporation that was recently formed to support the Library. One of its main missions is to raise funds of the Library, which the Library Trustees say needs expansion. When the SAD decided to dispose of the Pennell building, the Trustees said that it might be a good idea to move the library into Pennell. The historic building has been largely empty for years and is in need of about a $1.5 million in improvements before habitation could begin. The GPLA, as a fundraising arm of the library, has said that they would raise the funds to rehabilitate Pennell at no taxpayer expense, except for a bond in 2007 that would be a contingency in case they fail. They would then take over the Trust from the SAD and lease the building back to the Town so the Library as a town operation could move in there.

The Council had a concern that two of the Trustees, Mr. Clark and Mr. Gerardo, are appointed by the Council, but are also GPLA officers and would be negotiating the lease opposite them. In effect, Council-appointed committee members would become the Council's landlord. The Council wondered if these dual roles present an incompatibility.

Mr. Dale explained that the test for incompatibility of office is when one person occupies two roles and must decide one issue on two bases. "You can't serve two masters," Mr. Dale said. "The test is, will you be deciding a single issue with split bases?"

Vice-Chair Upham said that the Council Rules say that Library Trustees serve the town and that the GPL Directors serve their corporation. This drew shouts from the GPLA members, with Mr. Clark saying that they serve the library and only the Library. Ms. Sheets said that Mr. Upham should read the GPLA Bylaws. Mr. Upham said that he had, and drew them out and recited from his highlighted portion, "Every [GPLA] Trustee shall exercise his or her powers and discharge his or her duties in good faith with a view toward the interests of the Corporation…" So how can you do both?" Mr. Upham said.

"In addition," Mr. Dale said, "you cannot make an ad hominem decision, which if you say that Joe, for example, is a trustworthy guy and we will let him stay in office because we trust him to know when to do the right thing.' Again, you cannot serve two masters and decide one pending issue from two different standards."

As well as being a Town Library Trustee, Mr. Clark is editor of The Gray News and as GPLA President, had acrimoniously editorialized in successive weeks regarding the Council's recent actions on Pennell, the GPLA, and the incompatibility issue.

Mr. Dale said that it makes the situation worse when an officer advocates for a particular position. "If they are advocating for a position and putting forth a political agenda, then it's a problem," Mr. Dale said.

Freedom of Information

The Council has received several unusual Freedom of Information Requests (FOI) since the new members were elected. Because the FOI law was amended recently, the Council wanted legal advice as to the proper procedures in executing their duties and fulfilling the requests.

Gray resident Paul Proudian has made several requests that require large amounts of time in compilation and research. One request was for any and all e-mails that Mr. Foster ever sent over the last year. Another was for any correspondence exchanged between Mr. Foster and The Monument Editor Elizabeth Prata. Former Chair Pam Wilkinson had asked to be cc-ed on all Council and Manager e-mail correspondence in perpetuity.

Mr. Dale said that the law was amended to put into effect protections against what he termed as 'bust your chops' kind of requests, which are becoming more frequent across the state. One example was in Kennebunk, Mr. Dale explained, where a person displeased with Town actions had walked into the Code Officer's office, looked at all the books and papers, and asked for a copy of everything in the office. "People can abuse it," Mr. Dale said, "but you don't have to be a dupe."

He said that the law allows the Council to ask for specifics as to the request, estimate a charge for time to fulfill it, and to ask for that money up front. He also said that if the Town thinks that the person may either purposely or inadvertently abscond with papers while reviewing them in the office, that the Town can appoint a monitor and the citizen must pay for the monitor's time too.

The law says that for large requests, public officials may charge $10 per hour above the first hour for research, compilation or copying, and that public official means everybody, staff, elected councilors, and committee members.

As to being cc-ed on all correspondence, the citizens have a right to see the documents, but they do not have a right to participate in the conversation, Mr. Dale said.

The request to see correspondence related to persons, Mr. Dale said, is a legitimate request, but the Council does not have to turn over e-mails that do not relate to Town business.

The Council received packets of information from Mr. Dale and also drafts of policies related to ethics and incompatibility of office. The will discuss these issues further at their regular Council meeting on Tuesday, August 16.

Definition of Ad Hominem:
The reason why an Ad Hominem (of any kind) is a fallacy is that the character, circumstances, or actions of a person do not (in most cases) have a bearing on the truth or falsity of the claim being made (or the quality of the argument being made).