Entire Maine town forced to shut after its only clerk quits over denied vacation

The one clerk in a small Maine city resigned after the board of selectmen denied her trip request.

Christen Bouchard was the town clerk in Passadumkeag, Maine, since 2020. She requested a two-week vacation about a month and a half in the past. Her plea was denied by the board of selectmen. They claimed that nobody was available to step in for her.

She left on April 7. The town has had no one to register vehicles, keep crucial records, or talk with the state Division of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The place of town clerk isn’t the one vital opening in Passadumkeag. The town of 356 individuals additionally lacks a code enforcement officer, an assessor, an animal management officer, and a school administration official, in response to The Bangor Every day News.

The town workplace shut all the way down to in-person visitors until further notice, in line with a statement despatched out on April 19.

“The Treasurer will be in a couple of days per week to just accept funds on issues akin to taxes,” the assertion learn. “Please call the workplace before heading out to do any business right here as there are not any designated hours of operation now.”

Treasurer Barbara Boyer has apparently been coming into the office to collect tax payments. Nonetheless, she is reportedly unable to register autos, do building inspections, conduct animal welfare checks, or undertake lots of the other duties that Ms. Bouchard was answerable for.

It’s unclear when the town will have the ability to fill the vacant positions and reopen for enterprise. In March, town residents rejected a budget article meant to fund town operations after city officers didn't adequately clarify the reasoning for a proposed salary improve. The price range article additionally did not include funding for a code enforcement officer, a necessity underneath Maine law.

City officials said that they're finding it difficult to fill the open posts resulting from monetary uncertainties. It is also as a result of city’s small inhabitants, and the municipal roles being solely part-time. Ms Bouchard was only contracted to work 16 hours each week — though she stated she often labored extra — and was paid just $13,500 per year.

“We have now been left with a large number from years of neglect and are doing as much as we can to get our city again in order,” first selectman Brad McKechnie said.

“I do believe in time with the staff now we have, we'll get Passadumkeag again so as and looking out good, but it will take a bit and goes to be a problem for certain.”

In the meanwhile, the people of Passadumkeag are counting on selectmen and different municipalities to perform basic governmental duties. It consists of getting registering their vehicles within the nearby municipality of Howland.