LEWISTON, Maine — After facing growing criticism over his handling of increasingly chaotic and long-winded Lewiston City Council meetings, Mayor Carl Sheline is now pushing rule changes that would cut public comment time and eliminate one of the public’s chances to speak altogether.
The move is already drawing a sharper question from critics: is the problem really the rules, or is it Sheline’s inability to lead a public meeting?
For weeks, frustration has been building in Lewiston over council meetings that drag late into the night, with residents and councilors alike complaining that meetings have become unfocused, disorganized, and difficult to follow. Council President David Chittim has been among those criticizing the state of the meetings, while members of the public have increasingly voiced irritation over what many see as a council that cannot seem to control itself.
Now, instead of confronting the leadership issues at the center of the problem, Sheline is proposing to change the rules governing the public.
Under the proposal slated for the March 17 Lewiston City Council agenda, public speaking time would be reduced from three minutes to two minutes per speaker. The plan would also eliminate the second public comment period, cutting off one of the few remaining opportunities for residents to weigh in later in the meeting. In addition, the mayor is proposing a 10 p.m. meeting cutoff unless the council votes by a two-thirds majority to continue.
The agenda materials make clear what is being proposed: shorter remarks from the public, fewer chances for the public to speak, and a hard stop for meetings that the council itself has struggled to manage.
Sheline defended the proposed changes by arguing that recent Lewiston City Council meetings “have simply gone on too long” and that city business needs to be conducted in “a more efficient and focused manner.” He also said public participation remains important and insisted that residents will still be able to share their views by emailing councilors directly.
But that explanation is unlikely to satisfy critics who see the proposal as an attempt to manage the symptoms while ignoring the cause.
The central complaint from many observers has not been that Lewiston residents are talking too long. It is that the meetings themselves have been poorly led.
When meetings spiral, drift off course, or devolve into prolonged exchanges, the public naturally looks to the chair to restore order, keep discussion on point, and move the agenda along. That is leadership. And increasingly, critics say, that leadership has been missing.
Rather than imposing discipline on the council dais, the mayor’s answer appears to be reducing the amount of time the public gets to speak.
That is likely to fuel even more resentment in a city where public trust has already been strained by repeated controversies, tense public meetings, and a growing sense among residents that City Hall is becoming less interested in hearing criticism than in controlling it.
The proposed changes would amend Lewiston’s council rules so that general public comment would be limited to one comment period instead of two. Speakers would get just two minutes instead of three. Specific public comment on agenda items would also be reduced to two minutes. Meetings would end at 10 p.m. unless the council votes to keep going, and unfinished items would be pushed to a future meeting or special session.
On paper, Sheline is pitching the changes as common-sense housekeeping.
In practice, critics see something else: a mayor under fire for failing to keep meetings under control now asking the public to surrender time and access because he cannot do the job effectively.
That is the political risk for Sheline. If the public believes the chaos is coming from weak leadership at the front of the room, then cutting public comment will look less like reform and more like deflection.
And in Lewiston, that distinction matters.
The proposed rule changes are set to appear as Agenda Item 11 at Tuesday’s Lewiston City Council meeting. Residents can submit written comments to the mayor and councilors at [email protected].
