Entire Maine town pressured to shut after its solely clerk quits over denied trip

The one clerk in a small Maine city resigned after the board of selectmen denied her trip request.

Christen Bouchard was the city clerk in Passadumkeag, Maine, since 2020. She requested a two-week trip a couple of month and a half in the past. Her plea was denied by the board of selectmen. They claimed that no one was available to step in for her.

She left on April 7. The town has had nobody to register automobiles, preserve crucial records, or talk with the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The place of city clerk isn’t the one necessary opening in Passadumkeag. The town of 356 people additionally lacks a code enforcement officer, an assessor, an animal control officer, and a school administration official, in response to The Bangor Day by day Information.

The city office shut all the way down to in-person guests until additional discover, in accordance with a statement despatched out on April 19.

“The Treasurer shall be in a couple of days per week to simply accept funds on issues corresponding to taxes,” the statement learn. “Please call the office before heading out to do any business here as there are not any designated hours of operation now.”

Treasurer Barbara Boyer has apparently been coming into the workplace to gather tax payments. Still, she is reportedly unable to register automobiles, do building inspections, conduct animal welfare checks, or undertake many of the different tasks that Ms. Bouchard was chargeable for.

It’s unclear when the city will be able to fill the vacant positions and reopen for business. In March, town residents rejected a price range article meant to fund city operations after town officials didn't adequately explain the reasoning for a proposed wage enhance. The finances article additionally didn't embrace funding for a code enforcement officer, a necessity underneath Maine law.

Town officers said that they're discovering it troublesome to fill the open posts because of financial uncertainties. It is usually due to the city’s small inhabitants, and the municipal roles being solely part-time. Ms Bouchard was only contracted to work 16 hours every week — though she mentioned she usually worked extra — and was paid just $13,500 per yr.

“We've got been left with a mess from years of neglect and are doing as a lot as we can to get our city again so as,” first selectman Brad McKechnie stated.

“I do consider in time with the team now we have, we are going to get Passadumkeag back in order and searching good, but it should take a bit and is going to be a problem for positive.”

For the time being, the people of Passadumkeag are counting on selectmen and other municipalities to perform fundamental governmental tasks. It contains getting registering their automobiles within the close by municipality of Howland.