Maine Municipal Association retained the law firm of Bernstein Shur to analyze the confusing situation involving local General Assistance benefits and illegal aliens, or immigrant asylum seekers. Attorneys Paul MacDonald and Eben Albert-Knopp on Monday issued a 10-page analysis on those topics. MMA hopes that members – which continue to process GA requests on a daily basis – will find the legal guidance helpful. The document is 23 pages long with supporting exhibits.

At 2:45 p.m. today, Maine Municipal Association filed a Petition for Review in Cumberland County Superior Court seeking to clarify the confusing situation about whether municipalities legally should or can provide local General Assistance Benefits to illegal aliens. The City of Portland and City of Westbrook are co-plaintiffs in the suit.

Maine Municipal Association Executive Director Chris Lockwood sent member municipalities an update on the MMA Executive Committee election process. The deadline for filing a petition to the MMA Nominating Committee’s Slate of Vice President and Members to Serve on the Executive Committee closed on July 7. It is now time for member municipalities to complete their voting ballots. Ballots are due by noon on Friday, Aug. 15, and will be counted under the direction of MMA President Peter Nielsen.

Maine Municipal Association today released its 2014 Municipal Priorities Paper, a 30-page report that highlights the major issues and challenges facing towns and cities, including: the Legislature’s continuing retreat from the state revenue-sharing law; stalled funding on public education; and, how many Maine municipalities are collaborating and sharing resources locally, without getting much credit for it.

Maine Municipal Association Executive Director Christopher Lockwood on Monday alerted members that MMA will go to state Superior Court in an effort to get a definitive answer on how municipalities should determine whether to provide – or decline to provide – General Assistance benefits to illegal aliens who live in Maine, and may request assistance.

The Maine Municipal Association is pleased to offer an opportunity for your municipality to nominate one of your own for the Association’s most prestigious award. This is the 29th year the Maine Municipal Association has made the Ethel Kelley Memorial Award in the name of dedication to the cause of good local government.

The Ethel Kelley Memorial Award will be presented to the successful municipal recipient by a member of the Selection Panel on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 at the MMA Awards Luncheon being held during the MMA Annual Convention at the Augusta Civic Center.

The Brewer Police Department and the Brewer School Department are hosting a two day training entitled “School and Workplace Violence: Planning and Response” on August 18 and 19 at the Brewer Community School. This course is intended for business managers and owners; school administrators; police agencies; fire agencies; dispatch services; and management of all other organizations such as government entities, churches, and medical centers.

Attorney General Janet Mills sent a letter to Geoff Herman, Maine Municipal Association’s Director of State & Federal Relations, on June 17 stating that the state Department of Health & Human Services put municipalities in a “Catch 22” position with its recent directive that cities and towns not extend public assistance benefits to illegal aliens. Mills said her office is likely to advise DHHS against penalizing municipalities that abide by current law and continue extending benefits as they currently do.

MMA Executive Director Christopher Lockwood today sent a memo to all municipal officials outlining the organization’s response to the state Department of Health & Human Services’ recent directive regarding public assistance benefits and illegal aliens who live in the state. Along with the memo, MMA is releasing a June 13 DHHS analysis of the situation and a memo from the Maine Attorney General’s Office, which disagrees with DHHS.

Via a free webinar on July 18, you can join Carter Phillips, Sidley Austin, who has argued more Supreme Court cases than any other lawyer currently in private practice, Collin O’Connor Udell, Jackson Lewis, who argued a public employment case before the Supreme Court this term, and Adam Liptak, The New York Times Supreme Court correspondent, in a discussion of the most significant cases decided this term affecting state and local government.  Cases to be discussed include, among others, Michigan’s affirmative action ban, warrantless searches of cell phones, speech “buffer zones,” and two Clean Air Act cases.

This free webinar is co-sponsored by the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA) and the State and Local Legal Center (SLLC). 

In the coming weeks and months, Maine Municipal Association will reach out to the leading candidates for Governor of Maine in a number of ways, including an issues-oriented meeting set for early August and a candidates’ forum planned for the MMA Convention, Oct. 1-2 at the Augusta Civic Center. Do you have topic areas and/or questions that you want to see addressed? While we may not be able to ask everyone’s question, we are collecting topic areas now, so this is a good time to let us know what is on your mind. If you have suggested topics, please forward your ideas via email to our President, Peter Nielsen (Manager in the Town of Oakland) at: pnielsen@oaklandmaine.us. Thank you!

The MMA Nominating Committee is pleased to put forth the Proposed Slate for MMA Vice President and Executive Committee Members. The MMA Executive Committee is the governing body of the Maine Municipal Association and is made up of the three officers and nine members. The officers are elected to serve one-year terms and the members are elected to serve staggered three-year terms. Pursuant to the MMA Bylaws, nominations may also be made by Petition signed by a majority of the municipal officers in each of at least 5 member municipalities. The deadline for Nominations by Petition is by 4:30 p.m. on Monday, July 7, 2014.

The federal government has launched a pilot program – a “311 service” – to provide towns and cities with technical and expert advice on economic development. Fifty cities are involved in the initial phase.

The 2014 International City/County Management Association’s Conference – celebrating ICMA’s 100th year – will be held in Charlotte, N.C. The preliminary agenda is out, with special interest to Maine: Presque Isle City Manager James Bennett will be inducted as ICMA President; historian Doris Kearns Goodwin (a Colby College graduate) will deliver the keynote speech; and, Peter Kageyama – who will keynote Maine Municipal Association’s 2014 Convention this fall – is a featured speaker.