Kurtz seeks legal action

PARIS — Paris Selectman Ted Kurtz is seeking a legal remedy against the town for what he calls "illegal conduct" on the part of three of his fellow board members.

On January 23, the board voted 3-1 to force Kurtz to recuse himself from an item that Kurtz had brought before the board, because, they said, Kurtz was biased.

"In other words, a member may not discuss or vote if he or she has an opinion on the issue," said Kurtz in a January 29 email to Maine Municipal Association (MMA).

Kurtz said that, by preventing him from voting, the other board members were acting illegally, and he asked MMA to advise him on what can be done to correct the conduct of the other board members.

Board Chair Bob Kirchherr said that he hadn't seen anything that would make him think that the vote was illegal.

"I haven't seen the questions or the documents from Ted, so I can't really comment," he said. "If there's a question about it we'll have to follow the process and see where it leads us."

Meeting

On January 23, Kurtz, who is an attorney, placed an item on the agenda to discuss finding a new town attorney. He said that the current town attorney, Geoff Hole, has done a poor job.

"My concern here is that we are continuing to squander the public's money for this advice, if that's what you call it," said Kurtz, "... that is worthless."

Kurtz had previously blasted communications from Hole, which he characterized as being wrong, and difficult to decipher. He has also said that he was offended, as an attorney, to see the quality of Hole's legal advice.

Hole also represents several other towns in the area.

About five minutes into the discussion, Selectwoman Jean Smart made a motion to prevent Kurtz from participating in the agenda item.

"I make a motion that Ted recuse himself from this discussion, pursuant to MRSA 71 Section 6, for prejudicial bias, which has been made evident to the public now in the last two meetings," said Smart. "He is deriding our attorney, and it is clear that he has a strong bias against him, and it's inappropriate for him to speak in this way."

The motion was seconded by Selectman Kenneth West.

Kurtz argued against the motion.

"Bias is not a reason," he said.

"It sure is," responded Smart. "Check it right here, Ted. Check the law."

"Look, this is not bias!" said Kurtz emphatically, raising his voice.

"Somebody call the question," said Board Chair Bob Kirchherr.

Calling the question is a legislative procedure that prevents further discussion on the issue. The board voted 3-1 to call the question, which ended the discussion. Ryan Lorrain, the board's fifth selectman, was not present.

In accordance with the vote, Kurtz was not allowed to participate in the discussion, or to vote.

Kurtz appealed directly to the citizens of Paris by speaking to the camera. He again charged Hole with giving poor advice, and said that his fellow board members were not acting in the public interest.

Kirchherr responded.

"The way to deal with that is to say, 'we need to investigate an alternate service provider,' but to go through the process of continually maligning someone, for whatever reason ...," said Kirchherr. "If we need to do an RFP and look for a new law firm, let's start there. That's fine."

Kurtz said that he intended to bring that idea before the board at an upcoming meeting.

Dispute

Kurtz now says that the vote was not legal, and that he is seeking a legal remedy to the situation.

"These people have very little understanding of the law," he said. "They're in no position to evaluate the quality of the lawyer's work. I am. In my view, that's the point of friction."

The MMA's position on bias is found in its legal ethics packet.

"Bias occurs where an official, due to prejudice or a familial relationship with the applicant, is unable to make a fair and impartial decision in a matter requiring objectivity," reads the packet. 

Matters requiring such objectivity are typically when a board is performing in a "quasi-judicial" capacity.

"The issue of bias emerges in the area of the municipality’s quasi-judicial functions," reads a set of MMA rules that interpret the law for municipalities on ethical matters. "This includes the issuance of permits or governmental approvals of any kind (such as land use, business, or concealed weapons permits), the award of bids or contracts, discipline and firing of employees, and appeals proceedings."

But Kurtz said that the choice of a town attorney is not quasi-judicial, and that, therefore, bias doesn't come into the picture.

"What if someone ran on wanting to have people pay less taxes and have a smaller government, and then when he got elected, they said, 'you can't vote on smaller government, because you're biased?'" he said. "It's just ridiculous. There's no question about it."

The Paris board meets next Monday, February 13.