If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence and would like to talk with an advocate, call 866-834-4357, TTY 1-800-437-1220. This free, confidential service is available 24/7 and is accessible from anywhere in Maine.
HOULTON, Maine — In the wake of the town manager’s arrest and a municipal shakeup on Friday, Houlton residents crammed into the downtown council chambers Tuesday night to voice their concerns.
The public unrest in the Aroostook County town of 6,000 has been escalating for weeks, following Town Manager Cameron Clark’s Sept. 25 arrest on felony victim tampering and domestic violence assault charges.
The deepening divide reached a boiling point last week as three municipal departments declared they had lost confidence in the town manager and the council; a group of citizens took steps to oust leaders from their seats; and councilors Jon McLaughlin and Alexis Brown resigned because they did not agree with the decision to keep Clark on the job.
“The point is to do the right thing and move forward with logical ethics so that we can remove conflict of interest which creates these scenarios of abuse,” said resident Joshua Atkinson during the council meeting. “Conflict of interest allows abuse to happen.”
In an emergency meeting Friday, the remaining four council members voted to appoint Town Clerk Khylee Wampler as assistant town manager and place Clark on administrative leave. But the decision did not quell the rising discontent between residents, town employees and councilors.
The unexpected resignations of Council Chairperson Jane Torres and councilors Jim Peters and Erin Matthews further riled some residents. The three councilors effectively left the town without a governing body and remaining Councilors Eileen McLaughlin and Edward Lake were unable to conduct municipal business until new members were appointed in a special meeting Tuesday.
Houlton’s charter specifies four members and a chair are needed for a quorum.
After Wampler swore in the three new councilors –— Jeffrey Maguire, Jantzen Craine and John J.J. Schools — before the regular council meeting Tuesday, a long line of community members shared their thoughts and worries with the council during the public comment period.
Cary Township resident Jeremy Hiltz, who served two terms on the board of assessors in Cary, shared in detail a recent encounter with Clark.
“In late August I received a call from the town manager after I made a comment concerning the town cameras on social media,” Hiltz said.
In his Facebook comment, Hiltz said that he believed there was something going on with the town cameras that was inappropriate and that it needed to be addressed.
“The town manager told me that he took my comments personally and strongly suggested that I no longer make comments on social media regarding any activities of the town,” Hiltz said. “To me, I think by any reasonable standard it would be considered intimidating for a town official to call and ask somebody to stop making comments. I know that when I served on the town board I would never have made a comment like that to an individual member of the public.”
Hiltz asked if it was the position of the Town Council to make phone calls like that and if it is a policy to ask people not to make comments about public matters.
Councilor Edward Lake, who was voted in as council chairperson Tuesday night, said that he was not aware of any such policy.
Houlton resident Rosa McNally recognised October as domestic violence awareness month and said she wears purple for all victims. And in an intimate statement that drew an emotional reaction from others, McNally listed many reasons why she wears purple, including “for the women who the abuser maintains it was a mutual disagreement, however she has bruises and he doesn’t.”
“I wear purple for the women who have no voice, let me use mine for you,” she said.
According to McNally, a common characteristic of an abuser is charisma, a high level of intelligence, greatly successful and accepted by the majority of the public.
“This aligns with their ability to manipulate their victim because everybody thinks he’s such a great guy, a great leader, a deacon in the church, a judge, attorney, law enforcement, teachers,” McNally said. “I am Rosa McNally. I will not be silent and I will wear purple.”
One resident talked about the town’s 20% poverty rate and called on the council to consider creating an innovation committee for new town ventures aimed at addressing many of Houlton’s challenges.
Another asked the new council to enter the modern age and create a town portal where residents could send messages, comments and concerns to members of the town council and town manager.
Suzanne Hiltz and Patrick Bruce talked about being able to speak freely and honestly to town officials without fear of retaliation.
“One of my biggest frustrations is that anybody who says anything negative is labeled as being negative,” Suzanne Hiltz said. “When the people of Houlton and the surrounding areas bring up negative things it’s not because we want to be ‘Debbie Downers.’ I came here because I wanted a bright future. We say things because we are desperate for answers.”
Bruce said that one of the common things people have said to him is that they are afraid to tell town officials anything.
“If anybody is still afraid to speak your heart, your mind, your thoughts, ask me,” he said. “I’ll weather anything for your right to speak your mind.”
