City Council - Special Meeting

Um the next item on the agenda was a executive session um that we had put in as a placeholder in case we thought we might need it. But I believe um at this point um we are prepared to proceed to the special meeting unless anyone in the council thinks otherwise. But I think we're good to go. So with that, our last matter of the regular meeting is adjournment. So I have a motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn. Second. Second. All those in favor. So adjourned. I will now initiate start uh the city council special meeting.

All right. One second. Good to go. Okay. I'm now calling the order uh the city council special meeting. Um the only matter on the agenda is council order number 0518000 discussion and potential action on a possible counselor violation of the Ellsworth code of conduct pursuant to city ordinance chapter 40 section 12 item one. And um with that, I'd like to hand things over to the city solicitor um that could help uh kind of situate us in this matter.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My name is Tim Peas. I am, as you noted, the city attorney, and I will be advising you this evening uh with this particular item involving a potential violation of the code of ethics under chapter 40. I've got a statement I would like to read to set up the situation and this is something I would have gone through had we been in executive session uh or open session. So I think it helps frame uh why we're here tonight and the decision you're facing if you so choose to make a decision. Before we get there, I did bring copies of the city charter and chapter 40, the code of ethics. I only made 20 copies. I think there's more than 20 people here. So, I would ask you to come grab one if you want to follow along and give you give folks a couple of minutes to do that before I get started. In the meantime, I want to ask the counselors whether they need a paper copy of the investigation report and exhibits. I provided that to you electronically and I believe uh just wanted to double check. I have copies for everyone. If you want a paper copy,

please. Anyone else? I got the chunk.

There's so much right now. Jim, I need one too, please. I'm sorry. Has everyone been able to get copy of the materials the city solicitor has provided? Think we're good. Thank you. Um, I have a question. Yes, sir. Um, this investigation, could we give the public a copy of this? I would like to take that up at the end of the discussion.

Okay. Well, I just want to go on record as to say that I want everybody to have a copy of this. Hallelujah. Thank you. Thank you.

This uh bear with me. This is going to take five or six minutes. My name again is Tim Peas. I'm the city attorney as designated in section 6.04 of the city charter. In this role, I am the chief legal adviser to the council, the city manager, and all city departments, boards, agencies, and commissions except for the school board and accepted manners of criminal activity and prosecution. Once elected, counselors in Ellsworth take the following oath. I state your name. do swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and of this state so long as I shall continue a citizen thereof. So help me God. I again state your name do swear and affirm that I will faithfully discharge all the duties incumbent upon me as counselor for the city of Ellsworth according to the Constitution of the United States laws of the state of Maine and the city of Ellsworth charter and ordinances of this city. So help me God. That's why we're here tonight and want to make that connection. We have the charter and we have the code of ethics and councilors swear that they will follow them. In other words, city councilors have to abide by them. In early February of 2026, I became aware of employee complaints involving councelor Steven O'halerin. Generally speaking, the complaints involve repeated and inflammatory public communications and accusations that allegedly violated the city charter and city ordinances. Upon receiving this information, I had brief communications to confirm the complaints. I determined the complaints were serious enough in nature to pose a potential liability risk to the city and potentially violate the charter and code of ethics. In my role as city attorney, I conferred with the council chair and recommended hiring a third-party investigator to invest investigate the alleged

violations of the city charter and city ordinances. The chair agreed with my recommendation. Of particular concern to me were potential violations of section 3.02b 02B of the charter which gives a city manager and not the council or any one of them the power and duty to quote direct and supervise the administration of all departments offices and agencies of the city except as otherwise provided by this charter or by law end quote. And section 6.01 01 of the charter which provides in relevant part that quote all departments, offices, and agencies will be under the direction and supervision of the city manager. End quote. Additionally, I was concerned the alleged conduct might violate Ellsworth code of conduct, which is Ellsworth ordinance chapter 40 called the code of ethics/conduct. Section two of the code states, quote, "City officials shall strive to perform their duties with professionalism, endeavor to avoid even the appearance of impropriety wherever practicable, and conduct themselves with the utmost civility and respect for members of the public, city staff, and other city officials. Section three of that code entitled performance of duties states among other things that city officials shall give quote fair and equal treatment unquote to those coming before the council shall quote carry out impartially these and in brackets federal, state and municipal laws and the performance of their public duties to foster respect for all government end quote. and shall refrain from quote making personal comments not gerine to the business of the body or otherwise interferes with the orderly conduct of meetings end quote. On March 6th, I engaged a third party investigation agency to conduct an investigation. On April 7th, I received the agency's report. Several employees

were interviewed. The investigator commented on whether the employees were overreacting to the comments and behavior of councelor O'Halerin. And the investigator noted, quote, "The employees expressing concerns are not brand new employees who lack confidence and they do not appear to be overly sensitive. Their concerns appear to be genuine." End quote. After receiving the report, I met with the council on April 20th, 2026 and recommended, among other things, that the council consider whether councelor Howerin's communications and behavior violated the charter and/or the code of ethics. After reading the report, some counselors indicated they thought there might be a potential violation of the code. As a result, I then walk the council through the procedural requirements of the code of ethics when addressing potential violations of the code of conduct. I will now read the relevant section and if you have it, please go to section 12. It's towards the end. Section 12 is entitled regulation of counselor conduct. The purpose of this section is to establish procedures for the city council to address the conduct of members of the city council in accordance with Ellsworth city charter section 2.07B and determinations of vacancy under section 2.10B. First bullet point. In the event that a member of the city council reasonably believes that another member has violated or is violating any provision of the code of ethics or any policy or rule established by the council, the member of the city council should attempt to informally address and resolve the matter with the other member if doing so is appropriate under the circumstances. If the matter is not resolved informally, the complaining member of the council may ask for an executive

session under the main freedom of access law to discuss a complaint against a city official. Next bullet point, the member of the council against whom the complaint is being made shall be given reasonable advanced notice of the meeting at which the matter will be discussed and the right to be heard. The member of the council against whom the complaint is being made shall also have the option of having the discussion conducted in open session. Number one, item one, action or non-action on complaints. A, following the council discussion, a council member in open session may, but is not required to move to sanction the member against whom the complaint is being made. B. If the motion is seconded, the motion may be adopted by a majority vote as defined in the city charter. C. If the motion passes, the council shall issue a brief public statement explaining the reason for the sanction. D. Council may issue the following forms of sanction from least severe to most severe. A small A oral reprimand, small B, written reprimand, small C formal sanction. When the counselors indicated on April 2nd, and by the way that was an executive session and I was sitting in this chair advising you, they thought there may be a potential violation of the code. When that occurred, the first bullet in section 12 was triggered, which I just read, and that requires an attempt to informally resolve the matter. There was a discussion, but the matter was not informally resolved. As a result, councelor Lions asked for an executive session at an upcoming meeting to formally discuss the complaint against councelor O'Halerin. Again, in accordance with the first bullet of section 12

as a discussion was then had regarding the type of potential action the council would consider under section 12. Item one of section 12 includes the potential sanctions which I just read which are oral reprimand or written reprimand or formal sanction or no action at all. Item two under section 12 and for those of you who have it you can read that that item addresses expulsion and determinations of vacancy. No counselor indicated they would consider expulsion based on the report. Therefore only those procedures associated with item one are applicable this evening. As indicated above, the process for consideration of a violation of under item one is very straightforward. First, bullet number two requires that the member against whom a complaint is made shall be given reasonable advanced notice of the meeting at which the matter will be discussed and the right to be heard. I believe the notice requirement has been met as all parties have been given advanced notice of tonight's meeting. In fact, I advise councelor Howerin's attorney this matter would be heard uh tonight on an email to him dated April 29th, which is about 20 20 days ago or so. Second, the member against whom a complaint is made shall be given the option to have the discussion in open session. Mr. Howerin's attorney has advised me in writing that councelor Howerin wants the discussion in open session. Here we are. Third, although the code does not explicitly state the process required for the discussion under item one, we know from context that it means a reasonable opportunity to be heard to address the issues. In marked contrast to consideration in the potential sanctions under item one when considering an expulsion under item two, the code uses the term public hearing and says the member against whom a complaint is made may be represented by council and shall have the right to offer testimony, present witnesses, and

cross-examine and rebut all witnesses and public comments. In other words, a potential expulsion requires four far more procedural protections. In this case, however, the code uses the word discussion and right to be heard, which is generally accepted as an opportunity to explain their side of the story and address issues. Consistent with that general understanding, council Howerin's attorney has asked that councelor O'Halerin be given reasonable time to address the issues, and I have indicated that he will be. Fourth, following the discussion, a counselor can, but is not required to make a motion to sanction the member. If there is a second, the motion can be adopted by a majority vote as defined in the charter, which means an affirmative vote of four or more counselors. Fifth, if the motion passes, the council shall issue a brief public statement explaining the reason for the sanction. If no motion for sanction passes, the matter is concluded. Are there any questions? All right, I turn the floor over to councelor O'Halerin.

No public comment. No, sir. Thank you. Point of order. Isn't the uh discussion amongst the board before councelor O'Halerin addresses the critique? No. As I as I read it, uh it's councelor Howerin's opportunity to address the issues in the report. And have you uh advised the council on how the code of ethics may or may not affect councelor O'Halerin and the other board members first amendment rights? I've advised the council in executive session and I'm not going to elaborate on that further

and have you discussed the concept that it is not a legal viable cause of action for a hostile work environment which are some of the allegations against council. I'm not going to get into a legal debate with you, Brett. I'd suggest these are issues before the the board that they should consider. Councelor O'Halerin, you're up.

Well, to be honest, uh I thought I was going to get to hear the uh complaint um before I spoke. Um but I guess that's not how this works. Um, I would prefer to have this 176 page document that you paid for. How much to be to be in the public? Am I allowed to answer that question? Yes. There absolutely.

There are ethical prohibitions against you discussing that. retention of legal counsel. Yeah. So that I would advise you not to not to answer the cost that the city has spent on this. Okay. May inquire. Okay.

So I I've never been through anything like this before, but I guess I can give you what I understood. Um, first of all, I was surprised by this. I was not made aware of this. I find that really interesting to hear that I was supposed to be notified. I wasn't notified. It was surprised to me in an executive session. Nobody told me this was happening. Nobody told me anything about that, which is common. I'm kept in the dark a lot by city hall. Went into an executive session and that executive session was about me last year, last month. Immediately I stated that I wanted this in a public session. Those are the last words I said because I was hit sideways with this. Didn't know about it. Nobody told me it was about me. I never know what the executive sessions are about. During that executive session, again, it was about me, so I feel like I can tell you. It's not like it was a third party. I was completely surprised. I I didn't have any warning of this whatsoever. Now, having said that, I don't think we should spend a whole bunch of time saying, "Well, I was never notified.

They didn't try to resolve it with me." Uh, I did get a text from the chair on March 4th that said, "Hey, Steve, would you be interested in grabbing coffee next week? I could meet you at Dunkin Donuts near around 8:00 once I drop my son off from school." Or another time if that doesn't work for you. Didn't say it was about my ethics. Didn't say anything. My answer was no. I wasn't interested in going and having coffee with the chair. I didn't know it was about my ethics. The executive session that I just think I heard that I was supposed to be aware of before that happened wasn't told. I said nothing after I demanded it be in a public session because if I'm a bank robber, you all need to know it. Whatever I have done in my past, in my present, and in my future, you're entitled to know. So, here we are tonight. Since that time, I have retained legal counsel. As you could see, you folks are paying for this legal counsel for the city. I am paying for my own legal counsel myself. And we're here to talk about the violations which I want you people to see and with legal finangling hopefully that can be a public document. Do I have permission to read the memorandum that was expressed in the executive session?

This is your opportunity. Go ahead. Okay. Which memorandum is that?

The only one that I received um during the executive session. Mind you, this I didn't have. I had to get legal counsel to try and get it. And we got it or my attorney got it. I had nothing to do with him. So, in this executive meeting that was about me that I didn't know was going to happen, it reads to the Ellsworth City Council from Mr. Peace. In early February of 2026, I became aware of complaints involving councelor Steve O'Halerin. Generally speaking, the complaints involve repeated inflammatory public communications and accusations that allegedly violated the city charter and the city ordinance. A sample of direct quotes in emails and recollection of comments from councelor O'Halerin city employee from city employees include but are not limited to and these are bullet points I either in an email or in a verbal conversation I think it was an email said I expect push back from our secret city Paul, I said that. I don't know if it was an email, but I said that another one. And I think most of these are emails, but maybe one or two were verbal. I I'm not sure because I didn't write this list. Somewhere I had written one more example of unfair and shady Ellsworth government treating some with favor and some with

disfavor. I said that that's why we're here. Number three, again, this is just a sample that the attorney gave. Okay. Number three, shame on all of you for has taken part in this total act of injustice. I said that either in an email or verbally. another city hall secret against this counselor and Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth. I said that you should all be ashamed of this behavior. I said that more city hall secrets as usual. I said that attending a public bid opening and standing up and saying this is a show and walking out. I did that suggesting at a council meeting the bid process for various services and goods lacked integrity. I suggested that called city officials thieves and clowns regarding the foreclosed property issue. I said that calling spouses of city employees to complain about city business. I did that. There was a gentleman that worked here that was put on some sort of behavior probation. I don't know what it was, but anyway, submitted a resignation letter to the city council.

And in that email to the entire council, it talked about many things and I'm happy to find it and read it to you if that's allowed. But at the bottom of that email, it said, "Please feel free to call me if you'd like to discuss." And I'm I'm paraphrasing here, but it gave his phone number. And I did that. I called him I apologized for what he went through. I didn't like what happened to him. I certainly did that. But I have an email that is in this report that invited that organizing driving trucks around various city workplaces causing significant disruption. That's because I circled. I did not do it myself. I had an employee do it. Circled city hall the day before the vote to give the ked family money back. That trailer said, "Shame on Ellsworth. Return the car family equity." Okay, I did that. I'm not sure that's any more disruptive than the sirens downstairs when they leave town, uh, leave the place to go at a a fire or an accident. I'm not sure me circling city hall is any worse than the fire trucks leaving or testing the sirens. Claiming an employee was misusing city vehicles, that's not true. I had many people call me saying that a

particular employee had two vehicles in their yard. I went to that place. I stood in the street and I took pictures of the license plates. They both were municipal plates. I I had the plates run, found out one was licensed to Ellsworth, one was licensed to Winter Harbor. that particular individual came through city hall when I was talking to the clerk and said I said could you put this to bed everybody's calling me about city you've got two city vehicles he explained it didn't explain it exactly the way I think the facts are but he did explain it. So bottom line is this is a highlight from the city's attorney. It's not all all of it's here, but I'm just giving you what we were given in an executive session. Before I even saw this, when I found out it was about me, I said, I want this in a public setting. I was encouraged not to do that. But those are the last words I said in that meeting. Everybody tried to engage me in conversation. I didn't dare have a conversation. I didn't know I was the subject of the matter when we got in there. That's why we're here tonight. And it appears that when I campaigned,

we all go to the grand and give our ideas of as a candidate as candidates night. give our ideas of what we would like to have in the city of Ellsworth, what our thoughts are, and then if you're elected, it seems to me, and I'm not saying Ellsworth is any different than any other city, it seems to me that there is a squaltch of your ideas. Okay, that was a surprise to me. Never been an elected official before. Never been to the grand at a candidates night. I was blessed the first time with getting elected. I stood up and said my ideas and I have maintained those all the way through. I didn't get elected on one word and change it on another. I stood by those words. Some of those words I wished I wouldn't have said that night because I've had to stand with them. But I have stood with them. So I get elected and the first two encounters I had wasn't truthful. I was told by a city employee that the sewer plant was an enterprise account. They're making money. And I come here and I looked and they had lost $460,000. I think I told you before that the second encounter was me getting prepaid. And I'm like, whoa, what what is this? I

I've only been in private business. I I didn't understand that $460,000 was making money like I was told. I didn't understand that I should be happy that you prepay your bills and get paid before you provide the service. That was so foreign to me. I didn't know what to do. I gave the money to the library and have continued to do that. So when I found out that I was accused of an ethics violation, I'm like, hm, maybe that's true. Maybe I've crossed the line. Maybe I shouldn't have done what I did. But I don't plan to change. I plan to be me. I got elected to do a job and that job like the legal council said you take an oath of office and I have it here. Okay. And I never realized at the time, but it says that you swear, like he said, it says, "I, Stephen O'Halerin, do swear and affirm that I will faithfully discharge all my duties incumbent upon me as a city counselor for the city of Ellsworth according to the Constitution of the United States." Then it goes on to say the laws of the state of Maine, the law enforcement code of ethics and the charter and the ordinances of the city of Ellsworth. So help me God.

I went through that twice just formality and then when this come up I'm like how is this possible? How can I uphold the Constitution of the United States in this environment? It can't be done. You cannot do all of these. I'm in violation of some of these somewhere, and everyone at this table is. So, I did a little research on the word ethics and morality and I learned that they are used interchangeably, but there are some different definitions to them. Now, full disclosure, I got this off the internet. I googled this so maybe I'm telling you a whole bunch of foolishness here but I'm going to read what it says. It says while ethics and morality are often used interchangeably they serve different functions. Morals are your personal internal beliefs about right and wrong. Ethics are an external agreed upon rules and standards provided by an external group or an organization. Okay. So, I go down to the grand, I campaign on my belief systems, and now I'm learning that I was supposed to conform to a public document of somebody writing an ethics code and I didn't do that. that I campaigned on one thing,

but when I got elected, I was supposed to ditch that and do what some public group has decided to do. I haven't done that. I have done what I said at the Grand. And look, I'll be the first to tell you, I had no experience in government. I have been absolutely struck by the bureaucratic process that we go through. And I'm sure every city does, every town does. I'm sure it's me that I'm not used to that. But I've been here four and a half years and it continually goes sideways. And I have acted and maintained that I ran for city council to learn and to stand up for Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth. And we're here tonight because I have stood up for Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth. I have returned phone calls. I have gone and talked to people about high water bills. I had one guy that insisted that they were wrong. I paid for the plumber to come and the scope guy to come and I paid the bill because he was a retired guy with a $3,000 water bill. I paid out of my pocket crazy amounts of money that I don't have because I stood at the grand and said that I would do these things. So, here we are tonight. I'm told I'm not allowed to be me

anymore, that I'm an elected official. And because my opinion differs of some others, we're here tonight. I refuse to vote along to get along. That's the big problem is that I have stood up and it might have been wrong things that I stood up for. Okay? I'm not saying I'm a right person all the time. I'm sure I have made plenty of errors. Can I ask you one question, counselor, as your turn? Yes.

Pervading this report are allegations that you're in in essentially micromanaging employees at the city and you're harassing them and doing all sorts of things to make their life miserable. What would you say to that?

I would say that's not true. I would say that city hall is in shambles and the city employees are scared of the administration. There's been several people pushed out through unique ways. And I've had cent several employees reach out to me and complain about the administration, the city manager, the assistant city manager had all of those things. And I have listened when the process was broken down. And in fairness, when I say the process was broken down, the process according to the charter is to go through the city manager when you have questions. That was broken down immediately, not just this city manager, the previous city manager because nobody wanted to go through the process. Nobody wanted to lay in my view. I can't prove this. The truth on the table. Sure. Have I gone to city employees and asked questions? Absolutely. How come? Because I couldn't get the answers through the city manager. Not just this city manager. There is a squelch. Don't tell him anything. He's got a big mouth. He's going to tell the world. Well, you're right. I'm going to tell the world because it's your dolls. So I have had no choice through this four and a half years but to keep the word I got elected and apparently this group feels that I have crossed the ethics policy that someone else has designed. If that's the truth

then that's the truth. That's why I want this report. This report talks about me going to a city employees house on Easter morning. Imagine that. I went to a city employees house on Easter morning. Well, here's the truth of the matter. I heard that a city employee had a $54,000 judgment against him for garbage in his yard. And I was certain that I wouldn't get a straight answer. I went and knocked on this man's door and asked him if that was true. And he said it was. And I said, "Well, I've got an excavator. I've got a dump trailer. I've got a dump truck. Give me a time. I'll send a crew out and help you clean this up to to try and resolve this matter. And he said, "No." He said, "I'll I'll take care of that." He said, "I that's no problem. I went there to try and number one, see if what I heard was true, and number two, to help the man. He doesn't need to lose his house over these violations." He had garbage in his yard. It was a disaster. I'll be the first to admit. However, having said that, I would like that man to get treated like everybody else. I have maintained that Maine Organics has got away with murder and they have the city has changed the rules twice in favor of them. It's been going on nine years. I want everyone to get the same treatment. That's what I'm about. I want everybody

treated the same. I want to be friends with the guy that's homeless and the banker. So, what I have done in the time that I have been here is I have respected the people of the city and their pocketbooks. And I'm accused of crossing lines here at city hall. So, have I done that? They're going to decide that. Have I worked for you? Yes. Have I

another prop? put the spotlight on city hall. Absolutely I have.

Thank you.

Anything else? Councelor Howard, at this point? No. Other than I'd like this to go to the public. Mr. Chair, turn it over to you.

Yeah. Thank you. Um, I don't know if other counselors have statements they or things they want to say to Steve. I prepared something that I'd like to read. Steve, the fact that we're having this meeting is a shame. I know no one on the council wanted this situation to get to this point, and none of us enjoy this. It's stressful and has caused a lot of time, energy, and city resources to be diverted from doing the important work of running the city. That is why I was hopeful we could resolve this situation long ago. Last October, the council had a meeting with you regarding how your actions were impacting city staff. In November, the council met with an employment lawyer to discuss and learn about our roles and responsibilities as counselors, including appropriate behavior and interactions with staff. After receiving the complaint that started this current process in in March, I reached out to you hoping to meet for coffee to talk about these issues and find a resolution, but you refused to talk to me. Because of the seriousness of the allegations about your behavior and your refusal to meet to discuss any of this, we were forced to investigate these allegations to protect the city staff and protect the city from liability. After we received the investigation report, we asked you if you could resolve this matter informally without the need for this meeting. You again refused to talk to us. Instead, you requested this meeting be public, which is your right, but we could have addressed this issue an executive session without making the issue public and potentially subjecting the city to additional liability. But here we are. Following are things I would have said to you in executive session. The report shows that your actions with staff have been at times unprofessional and disrespectful, causing staff to feel

intimidated and bullied. You've raised baseless allegations of improper behavior and question staff's integrity. The report outlines actions that show you're interfering with city operations that are not appropriate for a city councelor, including our bidding process and with real estate negotiations, potentially compromising the city's negotiating position before the city even has a chance to weigh in. The report also shows you've interfered with personnel matters including showing up at city staff employees homes and invited, incorrectly accusing staff of not using city resources properly, and contacting staff spouses trying to convince that the spouse to have the city employee speak with you. The worst of all this is that the report indicated that employees are afraid of you and some are afraid to speak out of d out due to fear of retaliation to the point that one employee that interviewed with the investigator later withdrew their statement because they were afraid of retaliation and losing their job. This report was conducted by a third party neutral investigator that the city has used for previous personnel matters. I am summarizing the conclusions of the report, but they include the following. The city's charter and code of ethics makes clear that limitations placed upon the council's direct involvement in city operations, the direction of in the direction of city employees. The city's code of ethics is clear that all city officials are required to treat city employees in a respectful, professional manner. Common sense and basic human decency require the same. It appears that Mr. Mr. Howalerin is at a minimum performative in his communication style. Much as what has been attributed to Mr. Howlerin would not be condoned for appropriate leadership in most municipalities I've interacted with would likely lead to legal and/or administrative actions.

Certain actions by city councilors would also form basis for derogatory findings against a city under the main human rights act. News accounts suggest the city of Bangor recently paid a substantial sum of to settle a personnel matter with a long-term senior city staff member following bombastic accusatory comments by city councelor that prompted the employees rec resignation. One does not have to stretch very far to see a reasonable comparison in this case. Concerns about retaliation were expressed in one employee withdrew their statement after providing it, articulating their fear of retaliation, the need to retain their employment. I honestly found that interaction chilling. Another employee cited an ongoing interest in filing a lawsuit related to a perceived hostile work environment, but also felt that action could be detrimental to their employment. in 2026. It is unacceptable for public sector employees to live in genuine fear of retaliatory conduct and or potential job loss if they choose to come forward with complaints about potentially unlawful employment conditions. Because of this, Steve, it is my belief that the city council needs to censure you for these actions. We need to do this to protect the city staff and the city from further liability. The city's already dealing with so much as evidenced by the need to update our security measures to make sure we have a safe, productive environment for our staff and our citizens that are doing business at city hall. There was a recent letter to the editor published in the Ellsworth American regarding your most recent sign accusing the city of being clowns in a circus. The letter concluded, "Having the money and time to create signs, not my circus, but I know all the clowns placed prominently at the intersection of High and Main Streets, berating people we disagree with in small town Ellsworth acting like big city Washington is small town Ellsworth acting like big city

Washington. It's at best grade school playground behavior that many use before they grow up and mature enough to understand feelings, emotions, and empathy. And sadly, this childish display of playground behavior reflects on all of us, all of the citizens of our great community. There is so much division in our country right now. We don't need to bring it to Ellsworth. We are a small community and we need to work together despite these differences and divisions. We need to treat each other civily even when we disagree. Not only because it's required of us as city councilors in the code of ethics, but because it's the right and decent thing to do. I understand that there are different opinions about how we can be how things can be done and where our hard-earned tax dollars should be spent, but in a civil society, those differences are worked out through negotiation and compromise between the various council members, city staff, and stakeholders of any given issue. Steve, there have been many times in our years together on this council when you have raised important issues the city needs to address and you often have good ideas about how to do that. I know everyone on the council and on the staff want to work productively with you even when we disagree. My hope is that we can put these issues behind us and find a way to work productively together moving forward. I would still like to get that cup of coffee with you. Councelor Shay Steve's kind of right. Some of these uh some people that come to the podium and offer, you know, different things and um

I've got on to them. Um, it's uh I try I have limited my access to the city employees. I see them. I've gotten so that I can't even stop and say, "Hey, you're doing a good job. It's not easy." I used to work in the public sector. I worked as a state employee. Maybe that's why I've got skin like an alligator because I know that a state legislature can't come up and threaten threaten my job. If you've been working for a municipality for a long period of time, city councelor can't fire you. That's why we hired the city manager and the deputy city manager in HR. If you're not doing your job properly or you're doing something that's kind of questionable, then you should be kind of wary about it. But if you're not and everything seems to be going along just fine, you know, and you get complaints all the time about certain all kinds of things. And I realize how busy those two people are. And we're pretty busy. on the big scale of things, those two are right out straight. So, you try to find and work your way through the weeds a little bit without causing disruption so that you can find the right facts. Well, probably I'm getting accused of spying on city employees, seeing how I'm driving a dump truck that says RF Jordan. Just look for the white Mac with the red dump body. I'm the one that's got outside of all the red trucks that are Jordan.

But if I see something that's messed up, I talk to those two and if they're not doing our business, I'm going to bring it up to all of us because I am just the little cog in the wheel. I can't fire them without consent of everybody. Nor do I want to fire them. I want them to do their jobs. But if you don't follow the procedures and try to make the system work better for the people from the simple thing of procurement trying to save tax dollars money and not using it wastefully. I'm not accusing them of wasting their money, but there's a better way of doing business. Okay? If this was truly an incorporated business, it's okay to lease properties. We don't get any tax breaks from leases. We can't write anything off, but we can lease certain things to make things work better. Trying to make people understand that. Okay. Same deal. I probably offended all the nonprofit organizations in the city of Ellsworth, probably Hancock County, when I stated that I don't feel it's right to use taxpayers money, whether it's through tiff funding or whatever. I'm firm in that belief. So, if you're going to sanction anybody or do any of these, might as well bring me up on investigation, too, because I'm looking out for taxpayers and the residents. And I say taxpayers, there's

business owners out there. They don't live in the city, but they pay huge amount of taxes to the city and they influence the residents, the people who live here because a lot of them are workers for them. Okay. But if you, like I said again, if you're a city employee and you think that the city council is going to do retribution on you, yeah, welcome to my world, councelor Martin.

Steve, you know you're my favorite conservative. You you know you are

I haven't been on the council very long. I admit it. But Steve is my favorite conservative and we've developed kind of rapport. And sometimes Steve even agrees with me. He doesn't admit it publicly. But he does agree with me. ing when I was very upset about the teacher salary in the con in the contract for this funding year. Steve admitted he said he thinks that's shamefully low, but he didn't admit it publicly. But I digress. My point here is that we don't have council doesn't have any oversight of of city hall employees. Uh that's not our job. And there seems to be a disconnect between how you perceive their feelings and and your perception of have you done anything wrong because there's individual in this in this report seeking no contact from you and that is that is a very good example of being upset. Um I I I had no idea. I mean, I know that you like to stir the pot and I stir it with you, but I had no idea this was this was the situation with city hall employees who are a captive audience. They're capt they're there to do their job. They are bound by their own code of ethics and professionalism in their job. It's not like they can tell you to go pound sand. So they they are they are stuck when you release this vehements on them. But my question to you would be you say you say you you're not going to stop being you. Can we understand that being you involves continuing this behavior with city hall employees with writing them emails and confronting them and doing this these kind of actions?

you expecting an answer from me? I don't think that's an unreasonable question. I don't either. I'm just asking if I wouldn't have asked the question if I did wasn't looking for an answer. Okay. I'm just getting at the format that it seemed that everybody was talking and I'm happy to answer that question, but that isn't a lot of what happens in regular meetings. people speak and you're not allowed to speak and I'm happy to answer the question if that is accepted format code says discussion

so emails have usually gone to the city manager and copied and this hasn't happened recently I gave up a long time ago because I can't get any information out of city hall it it just isn't worth trying I have to go dig myself to get information that so I would suggest my city email doesn't work. Some of it gets forwarded to my business email. Um, apparently the city has done something about so it doesn't work. My city email doesn't work. It's probably me. So bottom line is this. My feeling is that I do nothing. I don't email anybody. I don't respond to emails. I read what comes and I respond to Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth, not city employees, not engage city employees, period. Um, I will engage with Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth. It's not worth trying to get information. I've learned that because there's too many agendas. I wanted to learn about city government because I had an interest, not an agenda. And I have learned that there's big agendas, not an interest. And I think it's interesting to answer your question that this investigation interviewed employees.

Do we know that employees wasn't told what to say? We don't know that. Also, if you're going to investigate somebody, why don't you interview me as well? You interviewed only city hall people. If I'm under investigation, wouldn't it make sense for the investigator to interview me and get the other side of the story? But to your point, I come into city hall when I come in. I speak to everybody and I won't do that anymore. That's no problem. I can be super silent as you know from your executive session. I said nothing because I was hit silent.

That's kind of passive aggressive, Bill. We don't want you to be silent. Make up your mind. It's It's like It's like It's like I'm I'll just take my toys and I won't go home. We're just It's not going home. It's If you're not going to do this anymore, we need to know that. I mean, I think he's going to do no one. Folks, please, please, please let the council have the discussion. Okay. Thank you.

This situation, I'm going to steal this line from Uncle Ben from Spider-Man. With great with great power comes great responsibility. And it is so easy to overlook what we as counselors can do with a side comment and we need to be careful and we can't reading through the report. It just struck me as a lot of boundary stomping with people who don't necessarily have the means to p push back because technically if I understand correctly and if you're correct correct me the city council is an auditor of like last resort meaning things can come to us so we need to stay neutral in order to do our job. Am I understanding that correctly? I'm I've been here less than a year so I'm

I think you've expressed yourself well.

Yeah. So yeah, I'm going to repeat the line again. With great power comes great responsibility and we can't bound stomp. I had to write something because I'm not very good off the cuff. Um I don't know if I can get but I have been a city employee. I love civil service. Um, that is why I am currently on council right now because I wanted to continue to give back. I was actually born and raised here in Ellsworth as well. And if we're talking about seniority on who gets to say what, my family came over on the Mayflower. So, uh, as a original uh, settled American, uh, I I feel like I also have a say here in my hometown. Um, and I want to recognize our city staff that does incredible, incredible work. Um, they show up every day and do service for the community typically with no thanks at all and sometimes with harassment. Um, and civil servants, I believe, are a special kind of people who are devoted to their community and we are really lucky that people want to serve our community. What I read in that document was pretty upsetting. I know if that was me that someone was coming after me like that, I would also want to raise this to my boss. Uh, and right now our staff don't feel safe and there is a real risk of a lawsuit if we don't act. And change does not come by berating and bullying city employees. In fact, in my opinion, it only makes your voice less effective. Uh, I have also been at that podium angry at the city of Ellsworth. I watched the city

mismanage money here for years. I was upset. I didn't know what I came home to. I was It was a very different place from where I grew up. However, I learned that change comes through building relationships, gaining trust, and rolling up your sleeves to work alongside staff. And it is my responsibility and everyone's responsibility that sits here at this table to make sure the staff can do their jobs without feeling intimidated, without feeling uncomfortable, and without fear. And when that all breaks down, the city breaks down. I mean, this is what the past city staff was living in. We have a to I'm so proud of what has been built in the past few years here. Um, we spent already a lot on this. And if we just have to look to Bangor where a very similar situation happened and from what I saw it was almost a thousand $100,000 in severance and legal fees and that could be what happens here in Ellsworth as there are people that want and are interested in taking this

um to legal action. So but that being said I met with you early on. I really liked you Steve. You and I know a lot of the same people. In fact, there are a lot of the same people that voted for me, that voted for you. Um, and you deserve to be here. You have so many great ideas. And you deserve you deserve to be at this table. And none of us want to kick you off this table. We want to work with you, but we can't have we can't have this risk to the city. We have we are bound by our code of ethics. you did sign that document saying that you were bound to that code of ethics. We all did and it protects our staff, our citizens and the integrity of um of the city council. And I expect that if I was treating staff in the same way that I would be in the hot seat tonight as well. And I I hope that that is how it goes. If that is how I treat people. Um, I just I hope that you can from here on out change your language a little bit. It goes a really long way. As someone who's yelled and screamed before and has changed their tone to try to get what I've wanted done, it's a really um powerful way to make change.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't write fluffy emails. I'm direct and to the point. Um, but we can fix that. And one I can fix that by just using email. Very simple. Um, that's no issue. And you know, people are looking at this. I have heard just as many threats of lawsuits for wrongful terminations and that type of stuff. But that's not investigated. This is investigation is about me. We're going to investigate one. Let's investigate all. At least in interview the people you're investigating. It's very simple in my world. It's very simple. It doesn't have to be this difficult. this council, whoever initiated this, um, you could have solved this problem by instituting term limits of two. I'm in my second term. It would have been simple. Institute term limits. So, I couldn't run again. A year and a half, I'm gone. But no, we got to do it the hard way and go through all of this. I don't want you gone.

Oh, no.

We're all on this. We're all here because we love Ellsworth. Whether or not our families have been here for generations or we moved here because in part Arsenic and Old Lace, that play began my tie. But we are here because we love Ellsworth. We want to work together because we love Ellsworth. And we need to work on maintaining artificial divisions. And I cannot articulate better than that. I do not have prepared remarks, so bear with me as I've got a few notes here. Um, councelor Shay, this is very different. You talk about you're going to upset people with your vote or what you say. That's entirely different. We're here to disagree. When you get to the point where there is bullying of city staff, that's where it changes. I am

Could you give specifics? No, I'm going to finish my sentence. I am so disturbed that you are trying to position yourself as the victim in a space where we're spending time because you have been bullying people. I think it's upsetting that a document that's supposed to be legally confined to executive session for legal reasons, somehow people are here tonight because they heard that you were going to be um kicked off.

Expold. What What is the word? I've lost it now. Kicked off. Yeah.

When in what we read, all of us knew from that night, every counselor here knew that we had the memo that um our legal attorney read for us. That was not on the table tonight. And yet the emails came, the Facebook misinformation came. How did it get out that this document that's supposed to be confidential, people knew it was about Steve and they believed that he was going to be kicked off the council? I find that incredibly upsetting. There's a reason we have executive session. People are concerned we're not transparent. There are times we can't be because it's an employee or this kind of a a setting. It's not allowed to be public and we have to sit and listen to the misinformation and do what we can without overstepping while somehow misinformation gets out and abroad. It's it's incredibly difficult. I had a conversation in the hallway and there at least two of you are still here. We talked about power and we talked about feeling unsafe and and I'm not going to name names but the last thing okay Robert Crant senior said I feel terrible if someone feels afraid because of what I've said

no reason to what happens is when you have a counselor who does say things that are intimidating on that board when he says things to staff that are intimidating and there afraid for their job. We have we there was the guy in the red hat. I forgot your name. But

so we talked we talked about um I'm sorry I'm instigating conversation. People feel powerless and that's why there's you're upset. You're all here earlier, our regular council meeting. You feel that you're not being heard. You feel that you don't matter. And and sometimes we hear you and we disagree and that's why we vote the way that we do. Imagine if it's in your work session that you are intimidated and you're afraid and you are powerless because it's one of the bosses. We are supposed to stay out of we're supposed to stay out of employee matters. Um, Marina mentioned it because if there is a dispute, it's going to come to us and if we've already messed in that mess, we're not unbiased and we can't take part in it. So, Council Sherry, this is very different from disagreeing on things or knowing that you're going to say things people aren't happy with. That's the job of being here. When you get to the point that there are people under you in the power dynamic and you choose to intimidate them and show up at their house at 7:00 in the morning and bypass, we all know if we have problems with a staff person, we go to the city manager. If we have problem with the city manager, we go to the chair. That's the process to keep the city safe from lawsuits and to allow people to do their jobs. You have cherrypicked some quotes out of here to put yourself in a certain light. There are other things in here that are less than honorable and I'm not going to name them because I don't want this to go public because it's not good for the city and there are people staff who came forward and said okay I know that there are risks but I want you to use my I want you to use my language and it is horrific that we are here and you

have known this is coming. There have been months upon months of executive committee meetings where we try to keep it within the family and it doesn't work and you've requested that this go public and here you are and here we are um seeing things very differently and I I think we have to take action because we need to put you on notice. We need to show city staff that we believe them, we hear them, and that a safe work environment is one of the most basic things that people should be able to expect at this time. Thank you. Could I address this? Uh, bullying could I just don't understand

and I think there's that's a problem that you don't understand it. The fact that you don't understand that what you do is bullying is at the core of the problem. So this is where I strenuously object to how this has all gone down because he was entitled to know what was giving these folks heartburn. We basically sandbag and that violates his I disagree. I'll let you finish.

Violates his due process rights. It's violating his first amendment rights. The standard is whether or not uh bullying in and of itself doesn't violate the main human rights act only if it's actionable because of race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, and so forth. You can nod your head, that's your prerogative, but that's when you're told the city's going to get sued and that's the reason you got to sanction counselor O'Haler and that's just fundamentally wrong. He hasn't done any of those things. the the fear of retaliation, you give him counseling on the main whistleblower retaliation act. But if he comes into the office and says, you know, I've got somebody concerned about their tax bill. Would you explain that to me? That's not bullying. And I wish Council O'Han would address.

Just to remind the council, we're not determining whether there's been a violation of the main human rights act or anything else. The question is whether it's a violation of the code of ethics. Thank you. Well, the standard there councelor under the charter is whether or not he has ever ordered any city employees to undertake any action. Have you ever ordered any city? I have never told an city employee to do anything. I have been very cautious. I have asked a lot of questions, but I have never directed a city employee to do anything. Did you ever get a cervic? I don't know what that is.

Uh start talking like a wise guy or you know rolling your eyes or bad mouthing him or

employee. No no no I have not done that. I have gone to um I I have done that at this council meeting sometimes but I have never um number one I haven't bullied any employee. I may have asked questions and that was it. I have never told an employee to do anything and I'm very well aware of that. I find it interesting that suddenly this is a Bible. This is an investigation that's got one side. I haven't bullied anybody. Maybe I didn't give a trophy for showing up, but I haven't ever bullied anybody. Anybody that knows me knows that I am not a fighter. I may argue, but I haven't bullied anybody. Actually, Stephen, in the report, um, there's an instance that I can remember where you did tell someone to do something, an employee. You said, "You should be ashamed of this." That's telling somebody to do something.

Sorry, but if I said it, I meant it. And they probably should be ashamed. Let them talk. But, but again, that's that's it. to tell a city hall employee that they should be ashamed of something in an email. Is that what I did? And who did I do it to? Was it Okay, now we're gonna

Well, specifics don't hurt anybody. Was that in relation to the cursed matter? I don't know what she's talking about, but I would guess that I told the council uh in an email and and forgive me if it's not correct, but I battled that game a long time and I found it very interesting to speak to that a little bit that I when that happened, I come to finance meetings and brought it up when new council has come on. I brought it up finally after two years. I put it on the agenda. Now, to be frank with you, it's hard for me to get anything on the agenda because city hall changes the wording. City Hall resists. I can't tell you how many times that if I get something on the agenda, which I rarely do because it's not worth the fight because I cannot get it to come out the way I asked.

Is that what you're talking about when you describe a secret city hall?

Absolutely. Um, you secret city hall exists and people think that I know what's going on in city hall. People call and do this and complain about that and all that. I'm like, I'm not surprised. I'd be the last to know. You know more than me. I am kept from the truth. I am kept from the information. For example, this investigation, I was surprised with it in an executive session. Why was I not notified? Why wasn't I interviewed? Why is this suddenly a Bible on one side of the story? I don't understand. Councilors have any other things they'd like to say or discuss with councelor Howland? I think we've fulfilled the process that we're supposed to. Tim,

yeah, we're on item four now of what I read earlier, which is following the discussion. Last chance, then a counselor can, but it's not required to make a motion to sanction the member. If there's a second, the motion can be adopted by a majority, which we already determined requires four votes. Um, because I think it's very very important uh to wrap up this matter in one evening, I went ahead and prepared a motion just to guide the conversation. You don't have to adopt it or not, but I want to make sure that if there is a motion, there is a requirement that the council issue a brief public statement explaining the reason for the sanction. And I think it's important for the city council if they're going to impose a sanction to explain their reasons and I think a motion does that. So if you like I can hand out what I have prepared ahead of time. Just please

I've got one.

My question is when do we get to talk about releasing this to the world? next. Thank you.

Am I allowed to see this? Yes. Everybody okay that I see this? Yeah. Yeah. It's

a public meeting, Stephen. How are we? Yes.

Yes. Please, please hang in there, folks. We're let them let them do their reading. Okay. Thank you.

This is basically just

what was filmed before. You have been so Correct.

I still want to take a picture. Is that aggressive civil service?

It's disgusting. Has everyone had a chance to read it? Um, having read this, um, and based on my previous comments, I do think, um, we should adopt this motion for censure. I don't say this lightly. Again, I this has not been a fun process. I think Steve, when you say um you know, why wasn't I, you know, consulted or part of the investigation? We asked to again, I asked to talk to you. You refused. We asked once the we had the investigation, we wanted to talk to you about this. That was your opportunity to respond. And tonight has been your opportunity to respond. So in because of that um you know I think you've had plenty of process the ultimately we need to act in order to protect the city's um employees and we also need to act to protect the city. um these behaviors and actions in the future could come back um and further complicate the city's um legal status and um could cause a whole host of problems for the city like we've seen in Bangor. So um no one we all want to work with you Steve we want to continue to work with you. We want the opportunity to work with you productively. Um but we cannot this behavior cannot continue. Um, and we ask you to stop, please. And because of that, um, I move that we adopt this, um, motion for sanction.

As written. As written. May I speak? We have a motion on the table. Second. Second. Now, Steve. Yes, please. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

Yes. So, we have a motion. Just for the record, I'd like to to uh just mention that I did receive a text message from you. It had nothing to do with anything except coffee. It didn't say my behavior. It didn't say my ethics violation. And secondly, I would like to know why I was surprised at this executive session. Who knew about it? who didn't know about it. Why? Why did I have to get hit in the head with it? Why couldn't you do what I'm asking what you're asking me to do? I don't understand why I was asking me to have coffee. I don't want to go have coffee with you. I've done it before and I didn't like it. But I wasn't told that it was a consideration of my ethics violation. And why was I not made aware of this executive session being about me? I never know what an executive session is about. And you're saying I had a chance to talk and I chose not to talk because I didn't want to engage without legal counsel. I think that's fair. I think that I should have been told what was going on. Should have been interviewed. Uh I shouldn't have been sidelined like I was. Uh I that was a complete shock to me and how that happened. And I'd like to know why it's okay for you to break the rules that I heard about in order to do this.

Councelor Shay,

my time as a public employee, I was a supervisor and I had to investigate and that means the accused and others. And as a public employee, you we were trained taught as supervisors to you use the lowest form of disciplinary action. Progressive discipline. Use one step, two step, three step, four step. each time hitting progressively. From what I read of this uh possible motion, we're jumping over A and B. There's some with what I'm seeing. There's uh yeah, there's some discrepancies that don't really sit well with me. Giving a sanction just doesn't sit well because like the employees, we are employees of the city. We govern our own. But you have to use progressive discipline.

Any further comment from council before we vote? Is this a vote for the A or C of the sanction or just the sanction itself and then we decide A, B or C? Because I don't know if I missed. It's drafted. It's drafted as a formal sanction. So, so that would be C that there's a written warning, there's a oral oral warning and form in sanction. Um,

and I would say in our prior executive sessions, there have been oral warnings and there have been emails that have been written warnings and a sanction, you know, we tried to struggle, well, what is a sanction? How is it different? It's it's a more formal written warning that nothing changes except that we've made a public statement to Steve about his behavior. So I I see it as a more formal written statement and we have been in meetings for months to address this council sh definition of sanction what what takes place what

I'm going to read what the what the code says the the council may issue the following forms of sanctions parenthesis from least severe to most severe A or recommend B written reprimand C formal sanction there's no other definitions progressive disciplines not mentioned uh there's no no other elaboration so least severe to most severe oral written formal sanction and regardless of any of those it doesn't have any impact on councelor Howerin's ability to continue to operate as a counselor in any way correct

correct it what it anticipates in my view which is common in other code of ethics is that you if there's an order or a motion, it's adopted and then you move on. There's no financial penalty. There's no nothing else like that.

Hang on. Nope. The council's still discussing discussing please. I think you won't. We ready to vote? Any further discussion? So the motion on the table is Hold on. Can I just recap, Steve? So the motion on the table is to adopt this as written. Seconded go down.

So it's obvious that I will abstain from this. Um, I'm not going to vote on this either way and I just want that to be clear. Secondly, I just want to say that I am not sitting here saying, "Oh, I'm going to change. I'm going to not be me anymore. I'm still going to be me." Um, I just want to be clear about that. I'm not telling you what you want to hear. I'm telling you what I am with my faults and without my faults.

I had an interesting conversation with um someone recently related to conflict and it's the difference between being nice and kind. Being nice is being passive and you avoid conflict and it's not helpful. But being kind is stepping into conflict in a way that's respectful. And and my goal in life, who I am, who I don't think I could change, is trying to be direct and kind at the same time. And I think that's a standard that we can strive for and remain true to ourselves.

Further comment? Should we read this before we vote on it or I mean we've read it and it'll be a public document. I think that's your choice. Yeah, it needs to be read at some point.

Yeah. Um I'll read it before we vote on it publicly. Does that sound right? Whereas in March 6, 2026, the city attorney engaged a third party investigator to investigate employee complaints that city councelor Steven O'halerin had has repeatedly made inflammatory public and private communications and accusations about employee conduct. Whereas the investigator issued a written report dated April 7th, 2026. Whereas the investigator conducted individual recorded phone interviews with at least five employees. And whereas the investigator found that the employees provided specific emails and photos demonstrating inflammatory public and private communications and accusations about employee conduct made by counselor O'Halerin. And whereas the investigator reported that one employee decided to withdraw their statement out of concerns of retaliation. Whereas the investigator prepared a summary which states in part, "The interviewed employees expressed frustration and aggravation that was has repeatedly led to emotional distress, anxiety, feeling, intimidated and personal offense stemming from unflattering and accusatory statements and unprofessional behavior attributed to them by them to Mr. O'Halerin. Some of these statements reportedly occurred in council meetings, others some in email correspondents and others in person. Outside of council meetings, interviewed employees reported they felt Mr. Halen's behavior exceeded what they believe should be considered reasonable oversight by a city councelor as prescribed by the city charter and city code of ethics. To varying degrees, those interviewed suggested Mr. Howerin's unpredictable behavior has negatively impacted their workplace satisfaction and their continued willingness to engage them with him on official city business. Employees expressing concerns are not brand new employees who lack confidence and they do not appear to be overly sensitive. They're people who have been granted the authority to lead their respective areas

of expertise and are presumed to be generally competent in the performance of their duties. Their concerns appear to be genuine. Whereas the investigator concluded that in 2026 it is unacceptable for public sector employees to live in genuine fear of retaliatory conduct and or potential job loss if they choose to come forward with complaints about potential potentially unlawful employment conditions. Whereas section 3.02b 02B of the city charter gives the city manager and not the council or any one of them the power of duty to direct and supervise and ad and administration of all departments, offices, agencies of the city except as otherwise provided by this charter or by law. And whereas section 6.01 of the city charter provides in relevant part that all departments, offices, and agencies will be under the direction and supervision of the city manager. And whereas section two of the Ellsworth ordinance chapter 40 code of ethics conduct states city officials shall strive to perform their duties with professionalism endeavor to avoid even the appearance of impropriy wherever practical and conduct themselves with the utmost civility and respect for members of the public, city staff and other city officials. And whereas section three of the Ellsworth Ordinance Chapter 40 Code of Ethics Conduct entitled performance of duties states among other things that city officials shall give fair and equal treatment to those coming before the council shall carry out impartially these federal, state, and municipal laws in the performance of their public duties to foster respect for all government and shall refrain from making personal comments not gerine to the business of the body or otherwise interfere with the order orderly conduct of meetings. And whereas councelor Howerin actions have fallen well short of these standards of conduct. Now therefore be it ordain ordered by the city council of the city of Ellsworth that city councelor Steven

O'Halerin is hereby issued to formal sanction for his actions as described in the third party investigation reported date dated April 7th, 2026. So, we have a motion and a second um to adopt uh this statement as written. All those in favor? Opposed? Abstain.

That's all I got. Everyone listen to us anyway. You do what you want. Just do what you want. Charlie, you're on board. I'm on board with that. You too, Mr. Chair. I think I want to follow up with councelor Howerin's request and I think it's time to have a discussion about the report and I sure I think you just incorporated that into this motion. So, it has to be a public record now. Well, thank you for your thoughts.

So, okay. So, again, let me uh let me finish. Uh I wanted to see how things uh went tonight. I was not trying to be koi with it. So now that we've gone through the process, there's many many references to the report. We, you know, we're not uh we're not dumb. We know this was the existence of it is going to be discussed, excerpts and so forth. So the it is a privileged document in my view, but the council can wave the privilege. So it's up to you as a body to decide whether or not you want to release the document. I would like to release the document because I think it validates what we've been discussing, but I don't want to release the document because it has a lot of information about our city employees and that um that they I think needs to remain protected both for their sake and also for the city's liability standpoint. But um that's just my opinion. I don't if we don't need to drag the staff that came forward on this into the public. I think that's in the best interest for them and for the city.

I think he just I don't know about other council if you have other thoughts. I don't I don't think we should reduce it unless we redact the names. Unless we I mean maybe we could provide something redacted, but I think it' be very hard to the city employees that use vehicles and equipment. Please stop. We're still in the middle of it's means there's nothing changes then no one gets cursed. That's right. Simple.

Thanks for the show. Certainly, I would like this released. It's about me and I think Mr. and Mrs. Ellsworth have a right to see it. Make some copies. We'll make sure it gets around. Okay. Thank you. Um, and secondly, I'd like to talk about how much money the city of Ellsworth has spent about on this.

Let's talk about the report. Yeah, you wrapped up that discussion or or not. I don't know. I don't know where the council feels about releasing the report. Well, I've just heard someone offer to make copies and I don't think that's appropriate. You had mentioned or I think you had mentioned redacting the names so that we can protect the employees, everybody but me. So, cl clearly. Well, my concern is identifying details. That's true too. I'm looking for guidance from the attorneys on what's the best way to this is about me folks and I'm asking for it to go into the public and your and I second the motion. It's not a motion. It's something that I want to do.

I'm concerned about the employees being further harassed if we release this. He wasn't concerned about me being harassed. Steve, you're not the victim. Not the victim. Oh, none of this had to be public. Steve, we could have had this done. Lay it on the table. Okay. I'll uh I'll provide some advice for your next meeting to consider. And in the meantime, it should not be made public. Is that what I'm hearing? You're going to That's correct. Okay. So, if people receive it, they know that they should.

My advice to you, again, I am the city attorney. I represent the city, not any one of you. But my advice to this body is do not release it. and you'll provide guidance on how we might be able to do that and protect the privacy of the people who didn't choose to be a part of this except that they were brave enough to step I'll provide some updated advice for the next meeting. Thank you. I'm guessing one of those names are from a city staff that stood at the podium and lied to us last meeting. I think we're ready to adjourn. I have a Do I have a motion to adjurnn? Yes. Motion to adjurnn. I have a second.

Second. All those in favor of adjourning. Our meeting adjourned.