Foley at center of Ludlow, Orient shakeup

By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    Talk and reports of ousting Mary Beth Foley from positions in Orient or Ludlow may depend on who you talk to and what happens in the months ahead.
    According to Alicia Silkey, Orient’s town clerk, treasurer and tax collector, the Selectmen decided to put out for bid the position of tax assessor at last Wednesday’s regular monthly meeting since “assessing agents are usually hired starting April 1.”
    Foley, chairman of the Board of Selectmen in Orient is the town assessor there as well. According to Silkey, Foley is certified as an assessor by the state and has not been removed from either position. Silkey said if Foley decides to apply again for the position of assessor, she will have to excuse herself from voting on who ultimately gets the contract.
Upset over tax hikes
    Barbara Sharpe, an Orient resident who was at the meeting, said the selectmen decided to not automatically renew Foley’s position as assessor due to tax issues, valuations and abatements. “They are putting the position out to bid because Mary Beth has not been available to the taxpayers and people are upset about the tax base. She is not returning phone calls. This has nothing to do with Ludlow.”
    Despite repeated attempts to reach her, Foley has not been available for comment to the Pioneer Times. Silkey said “Mary Beth has reassured me that this will all be cleared up.”
    David Peabody, who owns property on East Grand Lake, agrees that people are upset by the revaluation of the highly-prized lake properties. “My taxes went up 75 percent. If she got done tomorrow, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings,” said Peabody.
    On the other hand, Peabody, a former selectman in Orient, said “they’re jumping too fast, and they’re jumping too quick because they’ve got nothing on her. She hasn’t been indicted. I personally think if the Ludlow story had not come out, she would still be the town’s tax assessment director.”
Ludlow investigation
    As for Ludlow, Foley is town manager there and has been suspended without pay for “not providing receipts and an audit,” as stated by Ludlow Selectman Virginia McCain at a town meeting Feb. 15.
    State Auditor Neria Douglass is reviewing Ludlow’s books and may have referred at least one matter to the attorney general’s office. Douglass said “We are continuing to look at records and we are looking at them in detail. So, it’s taking some time because we are looking at everything. I continue to have quite a number of questions. The documentation of receipts for motor vehicles should have been better. Some other records are hard to follow.” Douglass said she is not looking into Orient’s records at this time.
    Douglass declined comment on whether or not additional matters have been referred to the attorney general’s office since last month.
    Assistant Attorney General Leanne Robbin who heads up the Financial Crimes and Civil Rights Division declined comment for a second time this week on any referrals or any investigation of Ludlow’s records by her department.
    Douglass said of her review: “I cannot comment on whether any other matters have been referred to the attorney general. I am using resources in an informal way to look at all information that needs to be assessed that involves the records of  the town. The fact that we didn’t receive her (Foley’s) audit report is still a matter of great concern to me.” With cooperation from the current selectmen, Douglass added that she is “looking at deposit slips, receipts, expenditures in the form of checks, checks that weren’t delivered (outstanding, not cashed but written, or missing in a sequence), and motor vehicle slips.” She said the painstaking review of records requires time to look at details. “It’s taxpayer money. At this time in our economic situation, it’s important to me that I help as much as I can.
Conflict of interest?
    In small towns with an equally small number of people to serve in town government, Michael Starn, spokesperson for the Maine Municipal Association, said it is not uncommon for one person to perform several functions.
    However, he said, it is important to consider the appearance of conflict of interests where two people can see the same situation in different ways and come to different conclusions. “The individual has to understand that an elected or appointed official has to put the interests of the town first above their personal interests. So, they have to, in effect, self-police this whole appearance of conflict of interest.”
    If the elected or appointed official does not self-police, said Starn, “residents will do it for them through the ballot box.”