ROCKLAND – A resolve to accept donations toward the hire of an attorney specializing in fighting cell tower and 5G industries was defeated during a meeting of Rockland City Council, Monday, April 10.

A group of fewer than 20 anonymous residents had collected $8,500 toward the cost of hiring New York attorney Andrew Campanelli to help write ordinances that would strengthen the protections for residents from cell towers and/or 5G facilities and installations to the extent allowed under the law.

Campanelli has said that cell industries don’t have as much power as municipalities are led to believe, and that regular City attorneys are not aware of what rights they have against the corporate giants.

“It feels to me a little bit that we may have gotten the cart in front of the horse,” said Councilor Sarah Austin, “because Council hasn’t specifically voted or decided whether that is the course of action we would like to take. So, bundling this altogether is a little bit problematic to me.”

Austin and Councilor Adam Lachman also expressed concern regarding the anonymity of the group.

“I don’t really understand what the donor is hiding in order to influence City policy,” said Lachman. “If we are doing this in a transparent way, we should know the interests of that donor.”

Councilor Penny York voiced particular concern with the protest group’s attempt to use wallets to force their desired outcome.

York said the group could have hired Campanelli as a private consultant and had him draft his own ordinance that could be then presented to Council. Yet, because they tried to go the route they did, they actually stalled their own progress in their fight to keep cell towers out of Rockland neighborhoods. Instead of progressing forward, the City had to pause and conduct a vetting process of a third party [Campanelli].

Campanelli, who is not licensed in Maine, allegedly presents political opinions on Facebook, evidence of which was copied and pasted into a letter to Council by former City Councilor Nate Davis, and read aloud by City Manager Tom Luttrell. 

Davis began his letter by acknowledging the City’s need to update Rockland’s cell ordinance, as well as to sympathize with residents who are concerned with the impact of telecommunication towers and installation.

“However, for the City to hire Attorney Campanelli would be an error of judgment comical and awesome in its intensity,” he wrote.

Councilor Sarah Austin said Davis’ letter was significantly truncated, and parts that were eliminated were meant primarily to characterize the public Facebook page of Attorney Campanelli.

“There’s a lot of profanity in [the posts], and a lot of skepticism about science,” said Austin. “But if you are interested, it is a public Facebook page, and I would encourage you to go look at it because something else I want to be careful about is who we associate with, and endorse, and hire as a community.”

Mayor Louise MacLellan-Ruf voted to accept the donation, but did not provide a reason during the actual vote. Earlier in the discussion, she did remind the audience that city-level councils are not divided by political party.

The City Planner and the City Attorney have worked to draft some articles that addressed a phenomenon – the small cell tower installations for 5G, according to Austin. However, Council processes take time since council wants to try to balance urgencies with being thoughtful and deliberative.

“We are making progress,” she said. “It isn’t that nothing is happening, or we’re digging in our heals. But we are also volunteers who are addressing lots of other stuff – all these things on the agenda – and I really would appreciate the patience and understanding of the community as we try to do this well. Together.”