ORIENT, Maine — After last week’s town meeting recessed before all agenda items were completed, the annual meeting for the town of Orient was finished Saturday, Aug. 15.
Tensions between the townspeople and the town office contributed to last week’s elongated meeting, with a main point of contention being the town’s lack of an audit since 2016. Town Selectman Paul Lamach addressed this issue at the start of Saturday’s resumption, saying that Orient was not the only town that was behind on its audits.
“I can’t believe how some of the parents are acting this way,” said Lamach. “I mean, you’re bickering about stuff that you shouldn’t be bickering about.”
Resident Walt Zakupowsky, who together with his wife Heather have been highly critical of the town office, responded that it was beside the point whether or not other towns were behind on audits.
“By state law, you’re supposed to have an audit every year. That’s common knowledge,” he said. “It’s irrelevant how many other towns have had it or haven’t had it.”
Keith Hayes, the newest member of the board of selectmen after winning an election as a write-in candidate, assured residents that the audit situation would be resolved.
“There’s so much contention and hitting heads and this and that,” he said. “There’s no reason to get mad at this. But the audit has to be done. It’s going to be done.”
Another issue addressed from last week’s meeting was whether the town would adopt a law passed in the Maine Legislature saying that write-in candidates must declare their candidacy 60 days prior to the election. The previous lack of adoption by the town contributed to Hayes’ victory.
The town voted down the article seeking to adopt the law for the time being, with resident Dick Rhoda saying that such an adoption should be decided at a separate meeting.
“As I read the statute, there’s supposed to be a public hearing on this before the townspeople vote on it,” he said. “To my knowledge, there’s been no public hearing in regards to this proposal.”
