ROCKLAND, Maine — The Rockland City Council is considering a new charter amendment that would make it easier to remove the mayor — who is appointed without voter approval.
If passed, it would only take a simple majority of council members to replace a mayor during their term. Right now, that can only happen through a recall vote or by voluntary resignation.
City Councilor Sarah Austin unveiled this proposal during a meeting on Monday and envisions it as a failsafe if the mayor — who serves a ceremonial role and is also a city councilor — is not performing their duties.
“It’s a constructive measure. It’s a way to see a potential problem and try to address it,” Austin said on Monday.
She added that it’s not an attempt to oust the current mayor, Louise Maclellan-Ruf, whose one-year term expires this November. Rather, Austin sees the charter change as “an easy route to say, ‘Hey, step back, we’re going to give someone else a chance at the leadership role and see if we can do better.'”
But as the nation reckons with the removal of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which was in progress as this story was being reported, there’s concern over the political roughhousing that could arise if the Rockland City Council is given the power to remove its leader.
Ed Glaser serves on the Knox County Commission but has also served as Rockland Mayor. While he supports Austin’s plan as a way to encourage accountability, he’s concerned it could promote bad governance.
“What we want to avoid is making this just about politics,” he said.
The amendment to the city charter, if it survives several votes by the Rockland City Council, would go in front of voters in June 2024.