Winslow Councilor Quirion’s charge in the Aug. 11 Sentinel that some councilors are routinely meeting in private resonated with me (“Sitting Winslow councilor blows whistle on ‘secret meetings’ held at chairman’s property“). About two years ago final action on the proposed Roderick Road solar farm was on the council’s agenda. I arrived some 15 minutes early and found the town hall doors locked. While waiting outside in the January cold I saw two councilors pass by the town manager’s window. As the meeting was about to start, seven councilors filed into the council room in a lock-step phalanx.
A solar farm in a residential area was of serious concern for some neighbors. Yet not one word was spoken by any councilman on the final reading, either for or against, and the measure passed by unanimous vote. Did the generation of additional tax revenue take precedence over the solar farm neighbors’ best interests?
Was the solar farm vote predetermined in the councilors’ private meeting in the town manager’s office? This predetermination robbed the public of any opportunity for meaningful input, evidently a low priority for some councilors. Such private meetings certainly avoid pesky public scrutiny on how the people’s affairs are conducted and create a perception that the public’s business is best done outside of public view.
It’s disheartening that councilors seem routinely bent on circumventing the open access law for their convenience.
I believe Quirion’s claim of impermissible private meetings to be highly credible despite some of its members’ contrary self-serving disclaimers.
Warren Poulin
Winslow
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