CALAIS — Two charter amendments that voters overwhelmingly approved on Election Day are set to take effect Jan. 1.
Councilors unanimously approved the effective date at Thursday’s City Council meeting. The amendments were expected to include a start date in the referendum language, but did not, requiring council action to establish one.
Voters adopted two charter amendments that clearly define the waiting periods for when elected officials can become city employees and when municipal employees may seek office.
The amendments define “employment” and “employee” to prevent conflicts when former city workers run for office or former elected officials seek city jobs.
City Manager Mike Ellis said the changes were “not directed toward any particular thing that has happened,” but stemmed from concerns raised by councilors and the city attorney that the charter lacked clear definitions of “employee” and which departments qualify as “employment.”
After the election results were announced, an anonymous Calais resident asked Monitor Local whether the change would affect Councilor Peter Foster’s seat, since he also works for the school district.
Foster was elected to the City Council in November 2024, and at a council meeting that month, members discussed a charter provision that “prohibits a member of the council from holding employment with the city of Calais while serving as a councilor.”
The discussion focused on Councilor-elect Foster, but Councilor Marcia Rogers was advised to abstain from participating because she held a part-time job with the school district.
Rogers has since stopped working as a substitute in the school district and now serves as the city’s mayor. She was appointed in late November 2024 after Mayor Artie Mingo was elected to represent Maine’s House District 9. Mingo had been elected mayor in 2022 after serving as a city councilor for 18 years.
At the meeting that followed Foster’s election, councilors reviewed potential conflicts with Patrick Lyons, the city attorney, and voted to define school employees as city employees because the City Council approves the school budget, setting the stage to clarify the charter.
During that meeting, councilors also discussed whether they “might allow Councilor-Elect Foster to take his seat on the council despite its finding that School Department Employees are in fact City Employees,” according to the minutes.
Councilor Michael Sherrard made a motion to allow Foster to take his elected seat, but “he must refrain/recuse himself from anything school- or charter-related for the time being.” The vote to approve seating Foster was unanimous, with Rogers abstaining.
Asked this week whether Foster’s council seat would be reviewed following voter approval of the charter amendments, Ellis said the 2024 council vote allowing him to take office essentially “grandfathered” him in.
Without speaking for the council, Ellis added, “The sentiment at the time, if memory serves me correctly, was to not challenge the will of the public who overwhelmingly voted for Mr. Foster to fill the open council seat.”
Foster is expected to continue abstaining from votes on school budget issues during his term, as originally agreed.
On Wednesday, Foster said he intends to retain his seat until “my term is up. I was voted in by 500-plus citizens of Calais, and I will not let them down.”
Ellis has said the adopted charter amendments mirror provisions in other municipal charters and are intended to establish clear timeframes between city employment and seeking public office.
A secondary benefit of the new language is that it should help clerks verify nomination papers by clarifying employment and service dates, ensuring candidates meet eligibility requirements.
The amendments are also expected to guide human resources staff members in determining when former School Committee or City Council members are eligible for city employment.
