Debate centers on exemption that allows
councilors to serve as firefighters.
CAPE ELIZABETH — Cape Elizabeth Town Councilor Caitlin Jordan got
something of a shock two years ago, the day after winning election to her first
term.
Jordan works at Alewives Brook Farm, a
family-run operation on Old Ocean House Road, and also puts her law degree to
use operating The Farmer’s Daughter Legal Services. However, in the winter
months, a significant part of her income comes from substitute teaching. At
least it did until she became a town councilor.
“The day after I was elected I got locked out of
the computer system,” recalled Jordan. “The school essentially fired me.”
The reason is contained in the town charter,
which bars “any full- or part-time employee of the town or school department”
from serving in a local, elected office. By taking her seat, Jordan lost her
job.
At a special workshop session of the Town
Council on Monday – held 44 years to the day after adoption of the charter
on Nov. 7, 1967 – Jordan asked her peers to consider an amendment to that
provision of the charter. After all, she said, the charter does allow firefighters
to sit on the council, and firefighters are paid on a per diem basis very
similar to that of substitute teachers. Both are issued a W-2, both are covered
by Social Security or Maine Retirement, both have Medicare deductions and are
covered by workers compensation. Also, while firefighters once got a very
nominal stipend, today the wages are much more competitive when on the job.
Jordan’s proposal sparked a debate regarding
what it takes for an issue to rise to the level of a charter change, and a
discussion reliving the town political history that led to the firefighter
exemption in the first place. Ultimately, the council agreed to table the idea
and take it up again after Election Day, when the new council, fated to have
one new member, is constituted.
“I agree with you, it is inconsistent,” said
Chairman David Sherman told Jordan of the firefighter exemption. “But I’m not
inclined to go though all the time and energy of a charter change to pursue
something that’s not a top priority of the town.”
The majority of the board felt the same way,
with only Councilor Sara Lennon arguing Jordan’s case. Jordan could simply
recuse herself when it comes time to vote on the school budget, Lennon
suggested, just as Councilor James Walsh has habitually done, because his wife
works for the school department.
The rest of the council, however, found fault in
that argument.
“I don’t think we should have councilors who
have to recuse themselves,” said Councilor Jessica Sullivan. “People elect us
to speak to a broad spectrum issues. Frankly, I’m uncomfortable with any
councilor getting any kind of paycheck from the town, in any kind of capacity.
I just think there’s a conflict there.”
“My experience has been that people treat you
differently when they know you’re on the council,” said Councilor Anne
Swift-Kayatta, intimating that some might wield influence unwittingly. “People
seem to fear that you have some control over their lives, their budget, their
boss or their reputation.”
Sherman said that, rather than create an
additional exception for substitute teachers, he would prefer to remove the
exemption for firefighters. However, he stuck to his guns, insisting the matter
does not rise to the level of crisis required to call a Charter Commission.
“It’s not a broad enough problem,” agreed
Swift-Kayatta. “It also would open the door to other people who want to change
the charter in other ways. It could open a whole host of issues that wouldn’t
be in the town’s interest.”
Cape Elizabeth has amended its charter only
twice, in 1987 and 2004. It was at the earlier date that a “Conflict of
Interest” clause was added, banning town and school employees from sitting on
the council. There were, however, two exceptions. One was for anyone
cross-employed at the time, as was Councilor William Jordan Sr., who was paid
to drive a plow truck part-time. The other allowed firefighters to run for
office.
Town Manager Michael McGovern pointed out that
the Cape Elizabeth of 1987 was much different than today. Back then, serving on
the volunteer fire department was still part of the social fabric of the town.
“At the time there were a lot of volunteer
firefighters, and those were the folks who ran the community,” he explained.
“It wasn’t the younger kids we have on the fire department now. They were all
Jordans and Murrays.”
And nobody at that time, McGovern said, was
about to tell Fire Captain William Jordan Sr. that he had to doff his white hat
for good, or else step down from the Town Council after “ 20-odd years.”
“They just wanted to do an exemption,” said
McGovern.
After William Jordan’s time, however, the
exemption did create problems. McGovern addressed those issues, but
purposefully avoided naming names.
“It wasn’t too many years ago that we had a
councilor who worked as a volunteer firefighter and there were some issues,” he
said. “It was extremely awkward for me to have to deal with potential
disciplinary action against a councilor.”
McGovern said today’s fire department is “a
totally different animal,” in part because the council recently agreed to
create new per diem positions on the rescue unit.
“I would not want councilors today working in
the fire department 10 hours a week, because it could undermine the whole
organizational structure of the chain of command,” said McGovern.
Despite this, even McGovern shied away from
opening the charter to amendment.
“So, you’re just going to let it stand?” asked
Jordan. She also observed that, given the usual length of the charter amendment
process, she’d likely be out of office before she could personally benefit from
any change.
“My whole issue in bringing this up is the
fairness of it,” she said.
Jordan offered that, in lieu of actually
emending the charter, the council could add definitions for full-, part-time
and per diem employees.
Sherman nixed that idea, however, saying it
could be perceived as an attempt to “put an end run on the charter.”
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