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An ambiguous state statute allows people to serve in numerous elected offices at once. Recent events involving a Bangor area official show why strengthening this statute should be a priority for state lawmakers.
Dan Tremble signaled to voters, both in the Democratic primary and in November’s general election, that he planned not to serve as a Bangor City Councilor and Penobscot County Commissioner at the same time. He indicated that he would leave his current city council seat if elected to the county commission post, based on the legal advice available to him at that point.
Well, he did win that election. But the legal guidance changed as he continued to research the issue, and as a result, his plans have also changed.
Citing that updated legal advice, Tremble signaled after the general election that he was still weighing both sides about whether to resign his city council seat or not. He finalized that decision just before Christmas, saying that he will in fact stay in the council seat. He will serve in both roles concurrently until his council seat expires in November.
Earlier this fall, we urged Tremble to resign his city council seat as he previously indicated he planned to do, regardless of the updated legal advice that he received. We cautioned that failing to do so would only add to the perception that politicians say one thing and do another.
Clearly, he disagreed with our conclusion. We can’t change that.
But there is something else that state lawmakers can change. They can change the ambiguous state statute that allowed this disappointing and cynical process to play out in the first place.
Other states have blanket prohibitions on elected officials serving in multiple offices at the same time. Maine does not. Instead, we have a partial ban on “incompatible” offices. This prevents people from serving in some roles at the same time, but not others. For example, someone is expressly prohibited from serving as a select board member and a county commissioner at the same time. Decades ago, the Maine attorney general’s office argued this also applies to serving as a city councilor and county commissioner at the same time, but that was an advisory conclusion and not a prohibition specifically outlined in the statute.
Legislators should end this ambiguity, and end the practice of dual office holding.
Dual office holding creates the appearance of a conflict of interest — if not an actual conflict — in which officials serve multiple constituencies at the same time. Other states have clearer and stronger limitations around this practice, and Maine should follow suit.