Tremble resigns from school panel Wife’s job with department disqualifies newly elected committee member

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BANGOR – Less than three days after he was sworn in as the city’s newest school committee member, Dan Tremble tendered his resignation Thursday because of a legal conflict involving his wife’s employment by the Bangor School Department.

A former city councilor who also served a term as mayor, Tremble’s resignation came one day after Bangor School Superintendent Robert Ervin informed him that he could not serve on the seven-member panel while his wife, Molly Tremble, was employed by the school department. She was hired in early September as an education technician at Fairmount School, where she staffs the computer room.

Tremble said the late discovery of the legal problem called into question the legitimacy of the recent election.

“The timing is suspect,” Tremble said Thursday.

Two school committee members, Jeffery Wahlstrom and James Cox, are seeking an inquiry into the situation.

“We’ve heard Mr. Tremble’s description of what happened, and, as elected officials, we owe it to the community to make sure all the facts come out,” Wahlstrom said Thursday.

Lewiston attorney George Isaacson, the school department’s legal counsel, stated in a written opinion issued Wednesday at Ervin’s request that there was no question about the law.

“Maine law is quite clear on this issue,” Isaacson wrote.

“It provides that a ‘member of a school board or spouse of a member of a school board may not be an employee in a public school within the jurisdiction of the school board to which the member is elected.’ … This statute [20-A MRSA ?1001(2)] clearly prohibits the spouse of a Bangor School Committee member from being employed at one of the Bangor public schools.”

By the time Tremble was told that either he or his wife needed to resign, Tremble said, he not only had won the seat, but also had been sworn in on Monday by City Clerk Patti Dubois during the panel’s annual organizational meeting.

Tremble said that until his meeting with Ervin on Wednesday morning, he was not aware of the dilemma. He said he had inquired about a potential conflict in the fall, but was told by his attorney there was nothing to prevent him from seeking the seat.

“If I’d have known in September, I would have dropped out of the race,” said Tremble, the top vote-getter in last week’s three-way contest for two seats on the school committee.

Until this week, Ervin said Thursday, it was his impression that school committee members could not be married to schoolteachers in the department’s employ. He said he did not know until this week that the law extended to support staff, which he said is a different category of employee.

Ervin said that even if he had known about the conflict, it would have been inappropriate for him to act on it during the campaign because that would have been tantamount to trying to manipulate an election.

“From my point of view, I am hired by the school committee, by elected officials. It is not my place to advise candidates of their suitability. That’s inappropriate,” he said.

“It is allowed for Mr. Tremble to run for school committee, and it is allowed for Mr. Tremble to be elected. What’s not allowed is for Mr. Tremble to serve on the school committee while his wife is employed by the school department,” he said.

“Presumably at that point, the husband and wife would have a decision to make,” he said.

Ervin also said Tremble “had the apprehension well in advance of the election that there might be an issue. He told me at our meeting [on Wednesday] that he consulted an attorney to find out if there was an issue.

“The attorney gave him, at the least, misleading and, at the worst, poor legal advice. From my perspective, that certainly is unfair. … To his credit, he asked,” Ervin said.

Tremble said he believes the election may have been manipulated.

In the Nov. 7 race, incumbent committee member and longtime Chairwoman Martha Newman placed second, and David Gallant, a political newcomer who had alienated some school officials, came in third.

Gallant’s conduct during encounters with school officials prompted Bangor Public Library Director Barbara McDade to request that two city police officers monitor an October candidates forum.

Tremble alleged Thursday that school officials withheld information about the law from him because they were trying to prevent Gallant from being elected.

Ervin took issue with Tremble’s allegation. He said he would have had no problem with Gallant being elected.

“If Mr. Gallant is [elected], Mr. Gallant is fine on the board,” he said. “It makes no difference to me.”

Gallant could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Asked whether Gallant might have a claim on the seat, Assistant City Solicitor John Hamer said that is not the case.

“He’s welcome to run in the runoff election,” Hamer said, adding that being a losing candidate in a city election “doesn’t mean anything. You don’t just go to the next person down the list.

“There was no impropriety,” he said. “Dan was duly elected. At the time he was elected, he had a spouse employed by the school department.” At that point, Hamer said, it was up to the Trembles to decide how to handle the matter, adding that it was “not that unusual,” though it had not occurred in Bangor, at least in recent history.

Tremble said he also thought he could serve on the board because another member, Phyllis Shubert, has a daughter and son-in-law employed in the system.

“It’s unfortunate,” he said. “We could have had other people who wanted to run.”

Ervin said he was not aware of Tremble’s legal problem until immediately before Monday’s organizational meeting when, while researching the protocol for electing a chairman, it occurred to him there could be a conflict.

Ervin said Thursday he was taken aback by Tremble’s allegation that information was withheld.

“We had a very – I would almost call it cordial meeting in which I explained to him the situation. I also offered to get written legal advice,” Ervin said of the Wednesday meeting.

What happens next is “really very simple,” Hamer said Thursday. According to the city charter, the City Council either can call a special election to fill the school committee seat, which could coincide with the June primary election, or it can leave the seat vacant until the next regular election in November, he said.

While councilors have been made aware of Tremble’s resignation, they have not had an opportunity to determine what their course of action will be, he said.

Tremble’s resignation will be the subject of a special school committee meeting set for 7 p.m. Monday in council chambers at City Hall.

At the time, school committee members will consider accepting his resignation.

In his resignation letter, Tremble wrote that the decision to step down from the school committee “has been a very easy decision for me.”

“This would have been a great experience, but as much as I love this city and have been honored to serve in various capacities, greater than anything is my love for my wife,” Tremble wrote.

Cited prohibition

Title 20-A, Chapter 101, Subchapter 1, Section 1002, 2 of the Maine Revised Statutes Annotated reads as follows:

Employment by school administrative unit, school union, academy. A member of a school board or spouse of a member may not be an employee in a public school within the jurisdiction of the school board to which the member is elected or in a contract high school or academy located within a supervisory union in which the member is a representative on the union committee.