By Michael Shepherd - Oct. 18, 2023
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Lewiston politicians walked into a bar. Then they punished critics. Maine's second-largest city has had some of the most tense local elections in the state over the last decade or so. Things are ramping back up now, as evidenced by a Tuesday meeting where two city councilors were punished.

Lewiston is historically a Democratic city, but there is lingering conservatism there. Elections for nonpartisan offices often boil down essentially to traditional contests between Democrats and Republicans. Right now, conservatives have a 4-3 advantage on the council. Mayor Carl Sheline is aligned with liberals, but he does not have a council vote in most cases.

Those conservatives have been flexing that majority. Early this month, they met with two Planning Board members at a bar called The Cage and discussed city business. While all councilors were invited and there is some dispute over exactly what was discussed, the four-person majority constitutes a quorum of the body. That means it could violate the part of the Maine Freedom of Access Act that mandates open meetings, a fundamental part of government.

Linda Scott, the council president, hammered the majority at a meeting earlier this month that was reported on by the Sun Journal, saying the conduct rose to the level of "moral turpitude." One of the conservative councilors, Bob McCarthy, responded by accusing Scott of politicking and said some topics raised at the off-site meeting "were just a plant to see who we can trust."

There have been somewhat conflicting opinions on whether the gathering at The Cage violated open-meeting laws. Based in part on information from a planning board member at that meeting, the city attorney said he did not see a violation. But Attorney General Aaron Frey, who watched two council meetings, wrote a letter saying he thought members needed training on the law.

On Tuesday, Scott and another councilor who criticized the meeting, Scott Harriman, were in the sights of the majority. At a meeting often interrupted by laughter and remarks from members of the public supporting those two councilors, the conservatives ousted Scott from her leadership position, replaced her with Councilor Ricky LaChapelle and censured Harriman for "deliberate and continual misrepresentation of facts."

"You slandered us, and I don't think that's befitting of a council president," Councilor Lee Clement said to Scott.

That was after Scott gave an impassioned speech standing behind her actions and adding that the division in the city is why she decided not to run for reelection in the Nov. 7 election.

"I will stand out my term, I will stand firm in what I said, and I will look you all in the face and tell you that I'm happy with what I did," she said.

The division comes ahead of an election in which Sheline faces three challengers, including former state Rep. Jonathan Connor, a Republican, with councilors and school board members also on the ballot. McCarthy, LaChapelle and Clement are running, while Harriman is unopposed. With a narrow majority running things now, these elections are worth watching.