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Gorham Woman Sues Town After Council Refuses To Let Her Take Seat She Won In November

A Gorham woman, Janet Kuech, has asked a court to order the Gorham Town Council to let her take the seat she won in the November election. 

The Maine Education Association filed the lawsuit in Maine Superior Court on behalf of Kuech, an ed tech in Gorham schools.  The council has refused to seat Kuech, saying that to do so would violate the town charter. 

But Kuech's attorney, Jon Goodman, says the council ignored its own lawyer, who said the town charter prohibits only town officials, not employees, from serving on the council.

"In the face of that, the council said, 'Well, sorry, we're not going to do that. We think the law either is - or should be - something different from what our own attorney is telling us,'" Goodman says.

Goodman says Kuech is prepared to avoid any conflicts involving the schools. "Janet's prepared to step away and recuse herself from situations like that where there might be a conflict if, collectively, the Town Council feels like there's a particular issue - the budget for instance - that she shouldn't be voting on."

But that's not enough for Gorham Councilor James Hager. He says the drafters of Gorham's charter did intend to bar all town employees from elective office in the town.

The council has ordered a March 3 vote to fill the council seat. Kuech's attorney says they'll ask the court to halt that and seat Kuech.

This story was updated Dec. 16, 2019 at 2:05 p.m. ET to add that the Maine Education Association filed the lawsuit on Kuech's behalf. For disclosure, the Maine Education Association represents most of Maine Public's news staff.