Kennebunk Select Board updates ethics code - Portland Press Herald - pressherald.com

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KENNEBUNK – Select board members agreed to sign an updated Code of Ethics to guide them as they do their work on the elected board.

The current code was first implemented in 2006, though there have since been amendments – many in the form of signatures as newly elected members join the Board.

The new code has many of the same provisions as the current one, though the language has been updated, and the new code includes a preamble.

The updated code spells out that the members abide by the Town Charter and the Constitution and laws of Maine.

It acknowledges, as have previous versions, that the board is bound to act as a body and that members have no individual authority.

A provision that members “support graciously a decision, once it has been made by a majority of the board,” has been changed to “We agree that principled dissent among board members is encouraged. However, because we act as a body, all members should respect and cooperate in the implementation of our board decisions.”

Board members will continue to leave administration in the hands of the town manager.

The new code spells out that the members “refrain from making disparaging remarks about the public or other members of the board.”

Adding “the public” to the Code of Ethics pleased resident John Costin, who often speaks out at meetings and has previously said he has been defamed.

He said the words “the public” has never been included in previous documents.

“I’m happy to see it,” he said of the inclusion, adding the board had done a good job with the revisions.

Costin pointed out that board members are not to publicly discuss matters taken up in executive session – included in both the current and the updated version, but he noted sometimes conversations can wander, “not maliciously,” he said, from what is legal to discuss behind closed doors by state law. He said if something is discussed that should not be, members would not be legally bound not to discuss it.

“John makes a point,” said Chair Blake Baldwin, and the board agreed wo add the word “legally” to the provision, so keep matters” legally discussed “confidential.

Resident Sharon Staz noted the current document addresses absenteeism by Select Board members, but the new code does not.

Select Board member Shiloh Schulte said the provisions about meeting attendance and absenteeism remain in the charter.