The Boothbay Region Water District celebrated a victory on May 1 when LD 1809 failed to receive enough votes to override a veto from Gov. Paul LePage.

The Democrat-sponsored bill sought to keep public proceedings in better accordance with Maine's Freedom of Access Act. The bill would have placed stricter guidelines on voting, attendance and remote participation of elected officials of municipal and quasi-municipal bodies.

Since March, BRWD has fought against the bill because it would encumber BRWD Trustee Ken Marston from attending meetings remotely through Skype, a two-way interactive video application.

BRWD has used remote technology in its trustee meetings for several years. Trustee Smith Climo said putting restrictions on it would have been “moving backwards.”

"When you're talking about people that are on these boards, we're not having them there for their brawn, we're having them there for their brains,” Climo said. “Their brains work just as well in a Skype situation as they do sitting around a table with us.”

As LD 1809 advanced through Maine's House and Senate last week, Climo and Marston and BRWD Manager Jon Ziegra made phone calls and wrote letters to politicians and LePage urging them not to support the bill.

Both Rep. Bruce MacDonald (D-Boothbay) and Sen. Chris Johnson (D-Somerville) voted against their party lines and did not support LD 1809.

The bill passed the House and Senate, but LePage vetoed it on May 1. The bill failed to achieve the two-thirds majority votes needed to override the veto.

While the water district will resume using remote technology, Ziegra said the state government should not interfere with the way small boards conduct themselves. 

“In trying to fix a problem that was a non-issue, they created a problem,” Ziegra said. “Big government getting bigger. It makes no sense.”