A few weeks ago, I read about the City of Calais declaring all businesses as essential and the city giving their permission for businesses to reopen. A couple of people forwarded me the article suggesting we do something similar in Gorham. At the time, I did not think it would have support. A few days later when gyms were getting ready to open following CDC guidelines, Governor Mills changed the reopening plan and would not allow them to open. To make matters worse, she did not provide any insight as to when they would be able to open. One of…
Author: Ben Hartwell
Ben Hartwell
Ben Hartwell is a 2019 graduate of the University of Maine School of Law and an associate at The Law Office of Bruce W. Helper. He raises grass-fed beef in Gorham, where he also serves as town councilor.
If you have been paying attention to the happenings in Augusta, you have probably heard about the food sovereignty bill that passed during the 128th Legislature. This bill allows municipalities to develop local food ordinances that permit food to be produced and sold in the same municipality without state oversight. This fixed a dilemma that was caused by municipalities passing these types of ordinances without a state statute allowing them to do so. It’s important to understand that, like it or not, municipalities are essentially an arm of the State. The food sovereignty ordinances that were previously passed really didn’t mean…