Sumner IWOC requests removal of Pfeifer

SUMNER — A member of the Industrial Wind Ordinance Committee (IWOC) was urged by other members to resign at the Board of Selectmen meeting on November 8, but selectmen agreed to postpone the action until they get legal advice.

"You can only dismiss me for cause," said Jeff Pfeifer. "You have to show the cause and give notice for a hearing, or hire an attorney."

In a letter to selectmen, five of the other six members threatened to resign if Pfeifer was not removed from the committee.

"Jeff is being asked to resign. I don't know why I'm not, since Jeff and I have [agreed] on everything we've done," said Lana Pratt, who also serves on IWOC.

Selectmen proposed handling the matter in an executive session. Pfeifer insisted the issue be aired publicly.

According to the letter,"with only two persons remaining on the committee, it is unlikely that the ordinance can be completed. ... It is also unlikely that the ordinance would be a balanced document."

"I must say," agreed citizen Ingrid Erickson, "to create a simple, legal ... organized ordinance cannot happen with Jeff Pfeifer on the committee."

Pfeifer, a law school graduate, has actively supported a more detailed ordinance, which he said would be more legally defensible. Other members support an ordinance that is less detailed and that has been modeled after other town ordinances passed in Maine.

"Jeff has taken some extreme positions on his view on what the ordinance should be, and the rest of the committee is trying to come to a consensus that will be accepted by the town, " said IWOC member Jessica Doe. "What Jeff is trying to do is reinvent the wheel. Is it their [Pratt and Pfeifer's] ordinance, or is it the whole town's ordinance? Basically there are two viewpoints that are clashing that is causing this conflict."

"We researched what the wind companies had to say," said Pratt. "We didn't put anything in the ordinance that didn't come from another ordinance."

Members said they find Pfeifer intimidating, unreasonable, and difficult to work with.

The five members who threatened to resign are Doe, Larry O' Rourke, John Allen, Diane Todd, and Chairwoman Kathleen Emery.

"I find it strange to argue we [Lana and I] are unreasonable,'" said Pfeifer. "We've made lots of compromises. We saw our job to make the ordinance as protected as legally possible. ... We aren't reinventing the wheel; we are inventing a better wheel to involve the people."

Selectmen postponed any action on dismissing Pfeifer until their next meeting November 22. Meanwhile, they will seek legal advice from the Maine Municipal Association.

A public hearing will be held at 6:30 p.m. November 22 on extending the moratorium for another six months.

"Is cause the fact that this committee ... has not completed the job within the moratorium?" Selectman Dan Perron asked Pfeifer. "Is that cause enough to dismantle this committee?"

"There's been personal attack after personal attack on me, " said Pfeifer. "I'm getting kind of tired of this, but I am still here because I took an oath, and I am going to finish the process. ... I am sorry if you don't like me, but I don't care about that. My job is to make my contribution the best I can, and I think I have."

Photo: Kayla Collins

TARGETED — Jeff Pfeifer covers his face at the Board of Selectmen meeting on November 8, at which he was asked to resign by five of the seven IWOC committee members. They agreed that if Pfeifer continued to work on the committee, they would all resign immediately.

Photo: Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling

Jeff Pfeifer