MEXICO — The Planning Board shot down a proposed ordinance to recall municipal officials in a 4-3 vote Thursday night.

Board member Albert Aniel, who proposed the ordinance, said it would provide residents with a “tool” to remove municipal officials.

The town needed an ordinance to be able to remove selectmen if they were not acting in the best interest of the voters, abusing their position, acted inappropriately or were convicted of a crime, Aniel told the board.

He said he consulted with Maine Municipal Association, which recommended using an ordinance from another town as a template. His proposal was a generic ordinance taken from the town of Sumner, he said. He noted that many other Maine towns had similar regulations.

“It’s basically just another tool that government uses,” Aniel said.

Other board members sharply disagreed with Aniel’s proposal.

Joe Derouche said he did not see the purpose of a recall ordinance. 

“It’s not needed in our town,” Derouche said. “We don’t have abuse in our town. The boards work well together. They have issues sometimes but they work them out between one another.”

He further questioned if Aniel had overstepped his authority by consulting MMA independently, a charge Aniel flatly denied.

Planning Board Chairman Dan Casey agreed that a new ordinance wasn’t necessary for the town, noting there had been no issues that would require a recall. 

Board member and Selectman Reggie Arsenault, however, saw a more nefarious motivation behind Aniel’s proposal.

Arsenault reminded the board that Aniel said he was going to bring a recall ordinance before the board with the specific intention of removing Arsenault and George Baum as selectmen because they did not support his operating expenses cap proposal earlier this year.

“It’s on record that you are going after George and I,” Arsenault said. “It’s a personal vendetta and bias because we choose not to support something we truly believe is detrimental to the town.”

He said Aniel was using the Planning Board as a “back door” to push the ordinance through to the Board of Selectmen.

Selectmen operated by a code of ethics and could be held responsible by state statute if they abused their position, Arsenault noted.

Aniel admitted there was “a possibility” that Arsenault and Baum would be recalled through the ordinance, but insisted the recall ordinance was a generic tool he believed the town should have on its books.

Planning Board members Ernie Robichaud and Gerald Drinkuth both said they agreed with the motivation behind the ordinance.

Robichaud said the town could benefit from having a process it could use to remove municipal officers if necessary.

“A tool is a tool,” Robichaud said. “You don’t have to use it, it’s in your toolbox, but the minute you have a problem, you go down and get it.” 

Despite the support, board members voted in favor of rejecting the ordinance, Aniel, Robichaud and Drinkuth voted against the motion.

In a conversation following the vote, Aniel said he intended to launch a petition to bring the ordinance to the selectmen directly.

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