Questions to ask your selectmen

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When did the people vote to grant additional compensation to elected officials in the form of health insurance? Selectmen can legally grant it to regular full-time employees, but the people MUST vote to give it to elected officials.

If we, the voter, did not grant this additional compensation, then it MUST to be repaid to the Town of Acton by former and current elected officials who use the health insurance plan.

Another question:

Several years ago, three individuals applied for the Treasurer's position.....a man, another woman, and the current holder of that position. Why was the person with the least amount of experience and the least qualifications hired?

Here we are two years later....still having fiscal accounting problems. One of the selectmen has been asking for a cash flow analysis for 3 months now. If she knew how to do it , it would have been done by now. Also, she would have known ahead of time, when she was going to run out of money. Instead, she didn't know when she was out of money until it actually happened! Then selectmen had to borrow $500,000. to get the Town through March until taxpayers started sending in their real estate taxes. This is not the way to run a $7 million corporation!

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April 15, 2008

Board of Selectmen
Town of Acton
PO Box 510
Acton, ME 04001

Ms. Ruma, Mr. Conway, and Mr. Neal:

After attending the first two school committee budget deliberations with the school board, Warrant & Finance Committee, et al., I have come to the conclusion that three members of the Warrant & Finance Committee appear to have a conflict of interest.

One individual is a member of the teacher negotiation team for the teacher’s union. He is also a teacher in the Acton Elementary School. He receives a direct benefit, from any discussion and/or vote while sitting on the Warrant & Finance Committee. He is also a partner and employee of his 1st cousin who happens to be a road commissioner. There again, he profits from any discussion and/or vote while sitting on the Warrant & Finance Committee.

Although it may not be illegal for him to sit on an advisory committee, it certainly is unethical. A seat on the Warrant & Finance Committee here in Acton carries a lot of weight. The recommendations of the Warrant & Finance Committee carry a lot of weight at Public Hearings, Special Town Meetings and the Annual Town Meeting.

Two other individuals also appear to have a conflict of interest. One is head of the maintenance department at the Acton Elementary School with his mother as a member of the school board. The other is the spouse of the gym teacher. Both of these individuals profit directly from any discussion and/or vote while sitting as members of the Warrant & Finance Committee. None of the three individuals mentioned above has recused himself from discussions and/or votes during either of the meetings I attended.

According to Maine State Law (Title 30-A,s/s 2605;1,6)

(1)Voting. “The vote of a body is voidable when any official in an official position votes on any question in which that official has a direct or an indirect pecuniary interest.”
(6) Conflict of interest. “Every municipal or county official shall attempt to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest by disclosure or by abstention.

According to the Maine Municipal Officer’s Manual, there is case law dealing with conflict of interest:

There is a common law (case law) standard defining activity which may constitute a conflict of interest. That standard is “whether the municipal official by reason of his interest, is placed in a situation of temptation to serve his own personal pecuniary interest to the prejudice of the interests of those for whom the law authorized and required him to act” Lesieur v. Inhabitants of Rumford, 113 Me. 317 (1915), as cited in Tuscan v. Smith, 130 Me. 36 (1931).]

Then there is: Familial Bias (Title 1, s/s 71; 6) a disqualification statute which reads:

“When a person is required to be disinterested or indifferent in a matter in which others are interested, a relationship by consanguinity or affinity within the 6th degree according to civil law, or within the degree of 2nd cousins inclusive, except by written consent of the parties, will disqualify.”

Last but not least is Prejudicial Bias. “The intensity of a municipal officer’s bias cannot really be known unless that municipal officer has said or done things that make it clear. As a practical matter, the municipal officer should abstain from the quasi-judicial proceeding if there is in the public’s eye the appearance of strong bias. (Any municipal official would be held to the same standard in a court of law.)

The procedure for handling bias: “As with conflict of interest, an official who is legally biased must abstain from both the voting and the discussion as a board member on the issue before the board.”

I look forward to a resolution to this problem forthwith. The people of Acton deserve equal representation on all boards and committees without bias and without any conflicts of interest. The Town of Acton has been operating for years diametrically opposed to Maine State Law. This problem needs to be addressed.

Sincerely,

Pam McAlinden
(letter has been shortened to save confusion & space)

[ilovejusus]

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

Proverbs 3:1-8

[charlottespidey]

Oh, what tangled webs we weave....................... ,

[ilovejusus]

But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Luke 6:27