A recording of a controversial Auburn council meeting is silent.
AUBURN – The city’s audio tape record of the Sept. 8 City Council meeting – featuring calls for Bob Mennealy to resign and angry outbursts – has turned up blank, according to the city clerk.
Mary Lou Magno wasn’t sure whether the audio recording was mistakenly erased or her tape recorder failed.
“There is nothing on that tape now,” Magno said. “Nothing. I have no way of knowing what happened. I didn’t listen to it until last week so I don’t know what happened.”
The Sept. 8 meeting ended with three city councilors and Mayor Norm Guay taking Councilor Mennealy to task for asking the state to investigate City Manager Pat Finnigan.
Councilors Joe DeFilipp, Richard Livingston and Kelly Matzen all criticized Mennealy, with DeFilipp and Livingston urging Mennealy to resign. Mennealy’s refusal was answered with applause from a group of police attending the meeting. Livingston responded to their applause angrily
“Stop that clapping! Stop this interruption,” Livingston yelled at the officers. “Stop clapping now!”
Last week, City Councilor Belinda Gerry noted that the exchange was not included in the city’s official minutes from the meeting. That sent Magno back to listen to the tape.
She said she sent the tape out the week before to L-A Music Factory in Lewiston to have a copy made. That’s not normal procedure, she said.
“But there have been so many questions from the public at the past few meetings, we thought we should have a copy made,” Magno said. “We made copies of all the meetings in August and that meeting in September.”
She discovered the tape was blank late last week. Tapes of the previous meeting in August and the Sept. 22 meeting were copied fine, she said.
“I’m not prepared to say that we didn’t somehow give the recording company a blank tape,” Magno said. “I’m not sure what happened.”
Jeff St. Amand of L-A Music Factory said he did not listen to the tapes when he made the copies. He puts them in a tape deck and makes the copies at high speed, he said.
“They’d sound like Mickey Mouse talk anyway, so I turn the sound off,” St. Amand said. “She said I could listen if I wanted to, but I really couldn’t care what’s on them.”
Cynthia Forest of Turner Street said she does care. Forest was one of two Auburn residents last week who asked to listen to the tape.
“I’ve been pretty disappointed in the council for a long time,” Forest said Tuesday. “When I read that they chastised Mennealy publicly, I thought it sounded interesting. I would have liked to hear that.”
Forest said she asked to listen to the tapes last Thursday and heard from Magno Tuesday.
“I found out that this meeting is the only one that was missing,” Forest said. “I think that’s kind of scary.”
Magno said the city installed a new recording system with two tape decks on Monday. The city will automatically make a backup copy of every meeting from now on, she said.
She also added three sentences to the Sept. 8 minutes describing the exchange: “Mayor Guay and Councilors DeFilipp, Livingston and Matzen, expressed their concerns regarding Councilor Mennealy’s recent request to the Attorney General for an investigation of City Manager Pat Finnigan. Councilor Mennealy spoke in support of his actions. Councilor Gerry said she disagreed with Councilor Mennealy’s method, but understood his reasoning.”
“That was entirely from recall,” Magno said. “That’s just the way I remember it.”
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