Monday, April 9, 2007
Peaks Island could secede from Portland without the approval of city officials or a citywide vote under a bill awaiting review by the Maine Legislature's State and Local Government Committee.
Drafted by the Peaks Island Independence Committee, the bill asks the Legislature to approve a process for Peaks to become a separate town on July 1, 2009.
It's a move Portland officials have been fighting since talk of the island seceding cropped up two years ago. The legislation follows several months of tense public negotiations that ended in a stalemate last December.
The bill would give the independence committee and Portland officials until Jan. 1, 2008, to negotiate the separation of debts and assets between the city and the Casco Bay island.
If they failed to reach agreement by that date, an arbitration panel would take over the task.
Binding arbitration would have to be finished by May 1, 2008, according to the bill. It would be followed by an island referendum on June 15, 2008, asking Peaks voters whether they still favor separating from Portland and becoming a separate town.
Last June, 58 percent of Peaks voters supported the secession effort in an island referendum.
If a majority of island voters again supported secession, Peaks residents would begin the process of forming a separate government and incorporate as a town a year later, according to the bill.
Portland officials say the bill is unfair because it would give island residents the sole vote on the arbitrators' separation plan. It contains no language that would allow Portland officials or residents elsewhere in the city to vote on the final terms of Peaks' secession.
"If the end result created a fiscal hit to the rest of the city, the bill doesn't allow for the rest of Portland to have a say," said City Councilor James Cohen, the city's chief negotiator. "It forces the city to agree to something that isn't in the best interests of all residents of Portland, including the islanders."
Secession advocates say the bill provides a fair process for Peaks to become a town.
"The city is not going to be harmed by Peaks' secession," said Michael Richards, the independence committee's chief negotiator. "They're a big city and they can take care of themselves. We're the ones who have the most to be concerned about, because we're taking steps to become a town."
Richards said the bill makes sure the city doesn't have veto power over Peaks becoming a town. The independence committee organized after a recent citywide property revaluation doubled and tripled some tax bills on the island of 900 year-round residents. Another island group, Solutions Not Secession, formed to oppose separating from the city.
After last year's island referendum, Portland's nine-member City Council voted unanimously to oppose Peaks secession. Councilors agreed to pursue "fair and reasonable alternatives" that would be in "the best interests of the city" as a whole.
Maine law required the two sides to try and resolve issues related to secession before the committee could submit legislation to separate from the city.
Sen. Christine Savage, R-Union, sponsored the bill. Savage's district includes several midcoast communities near Rockland and the independent islands of Matinicus, North Haven and Vinalhaven.
The bill is cosponsored by senators Dennis Damon, D-Trenton, and Dana Dow, R-Waldoboro; and representatives Paulette Beaudoin, D-Biddeford, Philip Curtis, R-Madison, Henry Joy, R-Crystal, Jonathan McKane, R-Newcastle, Peggy Pendleton, D-Scarborough, Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, and Windol Weaver, R-York.
The legislative committee is likely to hold a hearing on the bill in late April or early May.
Rep. Christopher Barstow, D-Gorham, who is House chairman of the legislative committee, has recused himself from deliberations because he has applied to be Portland's island and neighborhood liaison, Cohen said.
The position oversees city services provided on Portland's islands, including Peaks. It has been vacant for three months, since Thomas Fortier left the job.
Barstow, who is Buxton's recreation director, could not be reached for comment. Cohen and Richards agreed that Barstow shouldn't participate in secession deliberations.
The Peaks legislation includes House Island, Catnip Island and Pumpkin Knob, three small islands near Peaks that have few or no inhabitants.
Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:
Reader comments
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(1) The secession statute expressly allowed Portland residents to vote on June 13th when Peaks did, but the city council chose not to let them.
(2) Portland and Peaks can vote anytime they want: We Americans don't need anyone's permission to hold a votek.
(3) Neither the constitution nor the secession statute gives Portland veto power over Peaks Island's independence; in fact, they do the opposite. and
(4) In Portland Press Herald's past newspaper polls 87% of respondents supported Peaks Island's independence bid.
Hey, Portland! Want to vote? Go ahead.
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