North Yarmouth’s Select Board approved the Conduct Policy for Boards & Committees (CoC) on March 21, 2023. Work on the policy began October 18, 2022. Touted as a means to bring safety and return decorum to municipal meetings, the approved policy outlines steps the town will use to address reported inappropriate behavior of committee or board members.
The CoC does not include guidance for administering the policy. The Select Board did not discuss creating additional protocols.
During a February 27 workshop, Selectperson Andrea Berry said, “I do think that I can speak from personal experience that having this laid out makes me feel a lot safer about and less vigilant about feeling like I need to completely constantly manage what's being said,” particularly on social media.
Selectperson Kate Perrin blames social media for residents not wanting to volunteer to serve on boards.
Chair Brian Sites stated the purpose of the CoC is to moderate behavior between board and committee members. Sites said the CoC does give residents a way of seeking “redress” for issues they see with town officials. He also stressed the importance of the policy provisions to protect staff from excessive public criticism.
Following legal review, language addressing social media usage was removed from the final version.
How the town will measure the effectiveness of the policy has not been determined.
Selectperson Paul Hodgetts stated his opposition to the policy as a violation of freedom of speech. Hodgetts said he would not sign the policy.
NYFV asked the Select Board and Town Manager, but did not receive confirmation of how many committee members had signed the policy, declined to sign the acknowledgment, or had simply not responded. Whether the town will require committee members to renew acknowledgment annually or per term is not stated in the policy.
How personal data and facts associated with any CoC violation will be managed is unclear. Protocols regarding data collection and storage methods, access authorization, privacy protection, or disposition of files have not been confirmed. NYFV contacted the Town Manager and the Select Board asking for details but did not receive reply.
Provisions for accountability require Select Board as well as Committee Chairs to “intervene” if members appear to violate the policy. Whether disciplinary action will be taken if committee or board members fail to take action has not been answered.
According to the CoC, application of the policy is dependent on committee or board member assessment and reporting. At this time, the policy does not provide guidance for determining what actions violate the CoC or warrant discipline, nor does it include provisions to discreetly handle all complaints.
A complaint form existed on the town’s website prior to the creation of the CoC, but where the form was to be sent and who would have access to the information was not explained. NYFV questions about the form sent to the Town Manager and the Select Board on April 29 were not answered. A revised form has been available on the town website since May 1, with instructions to return it to town hall or email it to the Town Manager.
The fraud policy was pulled from the town’s website in early April. There has been no indication the policy is being revised or when it will be reposted.
The CoC states residents, along with committee or board members, can bring incidents to the Select Board. Residents have the choice to contact the Town Manager with concerns. The policy allows allegations between committee or board members to be eligible for executive session.
According to the Select Board, there are several options available for the public to submit concerns. At the March 21 meeting, Berry summarized residents had access to public comment during Select Board meetings, or they could speak to or email any Select Board member or the Town Manager. She added, “So it does feel like the public does have recourse within this in addition to all the other avenues that the public already has.”
Currently, Board member email addresses and phone numbers are not published. Rather, residents can contact individual board members using a contact form on the town’s website. NYFV contacted townhall and the Select Board asking to confirm the process. Questions about where information submitted using the contact form goes, who would have access to the communications, and how the details would be managed were not answered