Berwick Residents Questions Selectmen Motives

BERWICK – The board of selectmen in Berwick faced some heavy criticism from displeased residents at the September 3 selectmen meeting. Two residents stepped forth during the public comment segment of the meeting to voice their concern over the lack of consistency in the manner that public meetings are announced.  

The standard procedure for most towns is to post public meetings on the town’s website, which isn’t always done in Berwick. However, the real subject of discourse seems to surround, not the website, but the sign outside town hall that has come to be an expected source of notification from residents. Many residents are upset that this sign is not used in a consistent manner to announce public meetings. 

  

When faced with complaints regarding the lack of public notice of town meetings at the last two selectmen meetings, town manager Patrick Venne, stated town officials have been in compliance with Maine state law’s requirements for notice of public meetings.  

However, Maine state law is rather vague on the method and length of notice that towns are required to give to the public stating: Public notice must be given in ample time to allow public attendance and must be disseminated in a manner reasonably calculated to notify the general public in the jurisdiction served by the body or agency.  

The question then comes into play: What is considered ample time?  

According to Berwick resident Oscar Stone, some meetings have only been posted hours before the meeting was scheduled to take place. Stone has spoken to this issue at the past two selectmen meetings, and many other times by Stone's own admission, yet the problem persists. 

At the August 19 selectmen meeting Stone referred to the board as a "bunch of sleazeballs" that had a hidden agenda to intentionally conduct business without the knowledge of the public. At the September 3 selectmen meeting, Stone merely suggested that the board suffered from general "incompetence".

Berwick resident, Mike Reed, joined the crusade against the town’s procedures in meeting notification. At the September 3 selectmen meeting Reed indicated that the recent meeting regarding the fire department’s report to the selectmen was never on the sign.  

“I’m very disappointed in the board of selectmen and the town manager’s procedures,” said Reed. “The perception around town is that this board wants to do things behind closed doors without letting residents know.”  

Reed also claimed that many long-time residents have been forced to move from Berwick because of the excessive spending the town has approved.  

Selectman Bart Haley, acknowledged the oversight of some meetings not being posted on the sign and one instance where a meeting was posted without a complete time. At the aforementioned fireman's report meeting, the sign outside town hall read: Meeting 30 PM. Haley stated he believed the reason for this was the town didn't have a seven for the board as most meetings typical start at five or six. Haley also assured Reed that they had appointed a town clerk with the responsibility of keeping up with the sign and that the problem would cease to exist.  

Board of selectman member, Eleanor Murphy, stated that the sign was a relatively new means of media and implied it wasn’t an official tool of communication.  

“There was never even a motion to put the sign up,” said Murphy. “As far as I’m concerned that board [sign] belongs to the former selectman that purchased it.” 

Venne also acknowledged Stone and Reed’s complaints at the meeting.  

“Your concerns are not falling on deaf ears, but all legal obligations were met,” said Venne.  

“What’s legal is not always what’s right for the town,” said Reed.  

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