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The three Piscataquis County Commissioners likely violated Maine’s town hall laws when they passed a resolution that opposes Governor Janet Mills’ COVID-19 measures, makes numerous false claims, and calls the coronavirus ” Wuhan virus ”.
The three commissioners unanimously passed the resolution on Jan. 13 after a series of emails and phone calls, President James White said on Monday. The public had no way of observing the deliberations of the commissioners, as required by public bodies that make political decisions. The commissioners held no meeting on January 13.
“It was for correspondence,” White said. “There was no meeting.”
Commissioners plan to sign the document at a meeting scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, although signing the resolution is not on the official meeting agenda.
The resolution opposing the state’s COVID-19 prevention measures contains many lies – claiming, for example, that face masks cause pneumonia and respiratory illnesses – and has sparked backlash from residents from the Piscataquis County Facebook page when the commissioners released their text Thursday. He demands that Mills’ “warrants and lockdown” be lifted, and says the measures have failed to stop the spread of COVID-19 while hurting the state’s economy.
A public body’s decision on a policy matter constitutes a public meeting, said Bangor lawyer Bernard Kubetz, a specialist in open government laws. A public meeting must be announced publicly in advance and conducted openly. During the COVID-19 pandemic, public bodies are allowed to hold online meetings, but members of the public are yet to be given the opportunity to observe.
“I don’t think it’s slipping,” Kubetz said of the Piscataquis County resolution passed. “This is a public meeting and it was inappropriate to conduct this activity by email.”
White denied that the resolution’s deliberations and passage violated open government laws, noting that the three commissioners were never on the same phone call or the same email chain at the same time. A phone call involving the three commissioners would have constituted a public meeting that would have triggered public notice and demands for public participation.
Although Maine law does not prohibit emails or phone calls between members of a public body, they must deliberate and decide substantive issues in public proceedings. If members of a public body use individual communications to conduct public affairs out of public view, the law does not allow it.
Kubetz – who is also the attorney for the Bangor Daily News – said it made no difference whether the commissioners plan to officially sign the resolution in a public meeting on Tuesday after previously passing it.
Violation of Maine’s Free Access Act is a civil violation that can result in a fine of up to $ 500 for government agencies whose members commit them.
In addition to passing the resolution out of public view, the commissioners did not put the signing of the resolution on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting available on the county’s website. The text of the resolution, however, mentions plans to sign it on January 19.
It’s also a violation of Maine’s freedom of access laws, Kubetz said.
“You’re supposed to give the notice before the meeting and what you’re going to discuss at the meeting,” Kubetz said. “I think that would also be a violation.”
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