Despite residents’ concerns that Presque Isle councilors may have passed the 2025 budget illegally, a lawyer has ruled that the vote was conducted properly.
Jayne Farrin and Steve Freeman questioned the vote during the council’s February meeting.
At issue was whether December’s 4-2 vote to pass the $20 million budget had a two-thirds majority. Council procedure rules state a majority is five, while the city charter specifies four. The council agreed to seek legal advice.
The charter is the primary legal document the city should follow, and affirms that a 4-2 vote is a proper majority, city attorney Richard Currier stated in a Feb. 20 memo to councilors and City Manager Tyler Brown. Freeman shared a copy with The County on March 8.
“When read in conjunction with the city charter, it is clear that the [council] voting procedure assumes a full council of seven members and Section 4 was intended to define a two-thirds vote as five members,” Currier wrote, noting that two-thirds of seven is 4.6. “However, when City Council consists of six qualified councilors it is apparent that a 4-2 vote meets the requirement of a two-thirds vote.”
Normally a seven-member group, the council has had only six members since the October death of Councilor Garry Nelson. A special election is planned March 18 to elect a seventh member to fill out Nelson’s term, which will end Dec. 31.
Freeman disagreed with some aspects of the opinion during the public comment portion of the council’s March 5 meeting. It isn’t logical to ignore council procedure rules, which should be followed at all times, he said.
“I believe the city budget is under a cloud,” he said. “I believe the only legitimate city budget is the city manager’s proposed budget from last October.”
That budget was proposed at $21 million. Departments cut more than $1 million, and the final budget was approved during a Dec. 18 workshop.
Currier’s memo describes a special situation when there are six councilors and a vacancy, and could lead to interpretation problems in other situations, Freeman said. He asked if a 4-2 vote would still be considered legal, for instance, if it occurred when the board had seven members, but six were present and one absent.
Freeman suggested the council consider amending its procedural rules to match the charter.
The council took no action.
