A county commissioner can continue serving on that board and Bangor City Council, a law firm said.
Dan Tremble was elected to a seat on the Penobscot County Commission in November. Tremble, a Democrat, defeated Republican challenger Cary Weston for the position. Tremble is also serving as a Bangor City Councilor, the term of which expires later this year.
In an interview with the Bangor Daily News before the November election, Tremble said he would resign his seat based on legal advice. After he was elected, Tremble said he may not resign the council seat before ultimately deciding in late December to keep his council seat. That was because while state law prevents city mayors and assessors from serving as a county commissioner, it does not prohibit city councilors.
Holding both of those seats are not incompatible, but there may be times where Tremble has to recuse himself from voting because of a conflict with Bangor being located inside Penobscot County, according to the opinion given by Rudman and Winchell.
“The Legislature could have included them but did not,” the opinion said.
Commissioner Chairman Andre Cushing III confirmed the board received the opinion.
The county sought legal advice after three residents brought concerns about Tremble’s dual offices to a March 11 commission meeting. They believed Tremble was violating state law by serving in both positions.
Previously, Bangor City Councilor Wayne Mallar spoke at a commission meeting on Feb. 18, on behalf of the Penobscot County Republican Committee, and asked the board to pass a resolution saying Tremble can’t serve on both the county commission and the city council. The commission did not address the issue at the time because Mallar spoke during public comment.
This is the result Tremble said he expected but he’s disappointed that the county paid for that legal advice, instead of the group that requested it.
The review was about the group not liking the election results, not whether the offices are incompatible, Tremble said.
