Auburn planning board asks city attorney to review January chair, vice chair elections after public and member questions

After a member of the public raised procedural concerns about the board's January elections for chair and vice chair, the Auburn Planning Board voted on Feb. 11 to ask staff to request a formal legal opinion from the city attorney on the matter.

Evan Cyr, a member of the public, told the board he believed a motion to rescind would be out of order because both appointees had been present at the appointment meeting and the motions in question had carried. Cyr cited Robert's Rules of Order and urged the board not to rely on an out‑of‑order motion to "correct" the earlier action.

Board members engaged in a lengthy procedural discussion. Several members said inconsistent application of rules had caused confusion, and some suggested training on Robert's Rules or a legal memo to clarify appropriate remedies. One board member recommended bringing the question to legal rather than revoting immediately.

The board then passed a motion directing staff to seek an opinion from the city attorney about the procedure used for the January chair and vice chair elections. The motion was seconded and recorded as carried; the transcript does not include a numeric roll call.

Why this matters: the city attorney's opinion will determine whether the January appointments stand as adopted or whether corrective action is needed, and it could inform future board procedure and any training the board requests.

Staff said they will submit the procedural question to the city attorney and report the legal opinion back to the board at a future meeting. Board members suggested the city consider targeted training and a written policy to provide consistent guidance for parliamentary procedure going forward.