Two Cape Elizabeth residents, the school district and the superintendent are bracing for an ethics hearing after residents filed a complaint over the district advertising a school bond.

The residents, Larry Benoit and Mary Ann Lynch, allege Superintendent Chris Record authorized spending more than $5,000 on advertisements in the Cape Courier promoting a $95 million bond ahead of the November 2024 election. Their complaint argues Record or the district should have registered with the state as a ballot question committee, which they did not.

“We believe the advertisements, especially those in the few weeks preceding the election, were influencing the election and designed to support the bond issue,” Benoit said in an interview this week. “Based on research, we (found) that the town of Cape Elizabeth is subject to the state election laws and campaign finance laws.”

He pointed to a 2009 case in which the state ethics commission ruled the South Portland school district would have needed to file as a ballot question committee, but found they spent less than the $5,000 threshold that would have triggered that requirement.

According to Record, the district expended $4,940.44 across five payments to the Cape Courier for advertising between August 2024 — when the bond was sent to the ballot — and the November 2024 election, where the bond failed by less than 200 votes. That would put them below the $5,000 threshold requiring them to file as a ballot question committee.

The Maine Ethics Commission’s next meeting is May 28 but, according to Jonathan Wayne, executive director of the commission, a date has yet to be set for the Cape Elizabeth hearing. Benoit and Lynch said they have been told a decision will be made by Wednesday, May 21, when the meeting’s agenda is released.

‘Information’ versus ‘influence’

Benoit and Lynch also question whether the district should have been allowed to spend any taxpayer money encouraging “yes” votes on the referendum or “influencing” the result in the first place.

Record said he “was certainly surprised” by the complaint when it was filed last month. He and the school board have maintained that the district’s advertisements were intended to provide information on the project so voters could make an educated decision at the polls.

“It’s been our effort, and of the school district historically, to try and educate and inform our public about important topics like the budget or a school referendum,” Record said in an interview. “That’s been our intent all along.”

A day after the Portland Press Herald published an article on the complaint, the Cape Elizabeth School Board released a statement expressing “full support” for the superintendent and school department.

“Providing clear, factual and unbiased information is essential to ensuring that voters are fully informed when making decisions that will impact the future of education in Cape Elizabeth,” it states.

In an interview, school board Chair Phil Saucier said it has been a goal of the board in recent years to better communicate with the public, specifically to residents without children in the school system. He and Record both pointed to a number of examples where the school advertised in the Cape Courier to spread information on school projects, dating as far back as 1993.

“There was a survey last year for the former building committee and one of the questions asked was ‘How do you get your information?'” Saucier said, and the Courier was one of the top responses. “That’s where they like to see information … we find it to be an effective way to reach people who don’t have kids in school.”

The town’s role

Benoit and Lynch maintain their belief that the advertisements were biased and sought to convince voters to back the referendum. They are especially concerned taxpayer money was used for those ads.

“I’m concerned that there is a complete lack of accountability and transparency on this issue with respect to the spending of tax revenue for political advertising,” Lynch said.

Town Councilor Penny Jordan said this week that the council has considered taking action, but she and Town Manager Patrick Fox believe it is outside the council’s and town’s purview.

“Pat and I have discussed it, and each time we discuss it, we come back to the same thing,” Jordan said. “If you look at our charter and you look at the state law, once the school budget is voted on and approved by the council and the citizens of the town, the school board controls those dollars. Those are their dollars.”

Jordan said she and Benoit have spoken on the issue.

“I know that Larry and Mary Ann don’t agree with us fully. … I’ve spoken to Larry and they consider it a misappropriation of funds,” she said. “If you look at any other school district, or any project that happens in a town, there is education going on relative to those projects.”

Timing

Cape Elizabeth citizens will be asked to vote on an $86.5 million school construction project this year.

Lynch has opposed Cape Elizabeth’s last three proposed school projects, including the $116 million effort in 2022. She has campaigned against the 2024 and 2025 efforts as part of a citizen group, Cape Voters. Meanwhile, Benoit was a member of the school building committee for the 2024 project but opposed the final proposal. He is also opposed to this year’s effort.

Benoit and Lynch said they first grew concerned over the district’s advertising in 2022.

“In 2022, the Maine Ethics Commission did not regulate ballot spending in small towns,” Lynch said, but that changed a year later. “We certainly became very aware and concerned in the 2024 campaign.”

However, as the district began rolling out advertisements ahead of the referendum this June, they felt it was time to take action.

“Ads started to appear this winter, talking about the June 10 election, lobbying the Town Council to set that date and again advocating for the project,” Benoit said. “At that time, we decided we’d seen enough and we decided to file the complaint.”

When asked about their thoughts on the timing of the ethics complaint — why it was filed now rather than last year — both Record and Saucier declined to comment.

“Our intent is to educate the public about our needs — that we do have critical needs for our schools that need to be addressed,” Record said. “We want people to understand that. That’s what I’ve shared all along, and will continue to share.”