Communications with lawyers...

I've copied below the complete set of communications with school lawyers which Quenten shared with the Board, plus Mike's complaint in its entirety. Nothing else was given to the Board.


Here's Quenten's original query to the lawyer on the morning of July 16, the day after my election as chair:

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Bruce

The school board has a policy that says they will use a written ballot to elect officers if there are two or more nominees. We used a written ballot last night to elect a chairperson. There have been articles in the Lewiston Sun that this may not be legal. Is it? If not do we need to do anything about it at this point.

The policy is attached.

Quenten


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...the response July 20:



Quenten,

We have given school boards the opinion that officer elections, like any other action, must be done in public. Your policy provides for written ballots, although it does not explicitly call for “secret” ballots. If you have the ballots and the identity of the members casting each ballot, you could simply make that vote public by including the tally in the minutes. If not, the conservative thing to do would be to vote again, in public, at the next meeting. Alternatively, you could do nothing and wait and see if anyone challenges it. I know that as a matter of practice, a number of boards use secret ballots to elect officers, and nobody challenges the practice. Of course, the Lewiston Sun may change that.

Bruce

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On the morning of July 22:


Bruce

The person who was chairman last year is challenging the election results. He also contends that the entire meeting was invalid and we need to revote every action that the board took during the last meeting.
So the questions are:

1. Do we really need to revote every action?
2. If we need to hold a revote do we follow the usual procedure where I open the meeting and chair it until a chairman is elected?
3. Do we need to re-elect the vice chairperson who was elected by a show of hands?
4 Or, does the vice chairperson chair the meeting until a chairman is elected?

Quenten

*********************

This was "Mike's" entire complaint. The note was not signed or dated. The name was typed in, as below.


To Whom It May Concern,

I, Gerald Pond Jr., would like to officially contest the Maine School Administrative District #58 vote for School Board Chair held at Mt. Abram High School on July 15, 2010.

Respectfully Submitted,
Gerald Pond Jr.

*************************

At 2 pm on the 29th:


Attached is the letter from Drummond Woodsum regarding the election of a chairperson. In order to comply with the Policy and the law you should vote by written ballot but the ballots should be signed so that your votes are not secret. You may want to consider changing the policy as a written ballot that is not secret does not seem useful. If there is no objection Judy should open the meeting.

Quenten

----- Original Message -----

Attached is a letter to you from Peter Felmly. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. Thank you.


Paige Folsom

Legal Assistant to E. William Stockmeyer, Daniel J. Rose and Peter C. Felmly

DrummondWoodsum

...

July 29, 2010
Via Electronic and U.S. Mail
Quenten K. Clark Superintendent of Schools
M.S.A.D. No. 58 1401 Rangeley Road
Phillips, ME 04966
Dear Superintendent Clark:

I am writing in response to your inquiry concerning whether the school board must revisit each of the votes taken during the July 15, 2010 board meeting because the board chairperson was elected by a secret, written ballot. In addition, you requested some guidance on who should preside over the meeting scheduled for this evening until the board elects a new chairperson.

I understand that, on July 15, 2010, the school board met to elect officers and subsequently conducted a typical school board meeting. During the public meeting, the school board initially elected (by a 5-4 vote) a chairperson by secret ballot and then elected a vice chairperson by a show of hands. This latter vote was unanimous. Thereafter, the board proceeded to hear a number of reports from administrators and to address the action items on the agenda, which had been prepared in advance of the meeting. The action items included (a) approval of the minutes of an earlier board meeting; (b) approval of student handbooks for the high school and elementary school; (c) authorizing the Superintendent to arrange a short-term borrowing of up to $1 million; (d) approval of the Superintendent’s nomination for a special education teacher; and (e) conducting an executive session pursuant to 1 M.R.S. §405 (6)(A) to evaluate your performance as Superintendent.

Initially, it is my understanding that Bruce Smith previously recommended to you that the conservative approach would be to have a second election for the chairperson position. For the reasons you and Bruce discussed, we would recommend that the new election be conducted in public session, and not by secret ballot.

Although we believe that the board should conduct a new election of the chairperson, we do not believe it is necessary to revisit all of the subsequent votes. There is no reason an election of the chair by secret ballot would invalidate subsequent votes by the board. As reflected in the board minutes from the July 15 meeting, the votes were unanimous were not shielded from public scrutiny. It is therefore our opinion that the board does not need to take another vote on any matter other than the selection of board chair. Although the vote to authorize a short-term borrowing was proper, please note that state law requires that a properly elected chairperson must sign any bonds or notes issued in connection with such borrowing. Thus, the chairperson elected at tonight’s public meeting should be the one to sign any documents in connection with the short-term borrowing.

Finally, with respect to the process for this evening’s meeting, we would recommend that the vice chairperson conduct the meeting until a new board chairperson is elected.

I hope that the above has been responsive to your inquiry. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to call.

Sincerely, Peter C. Felmly