Kuech File photo
GORHAM — Janet Kuech, who was elected but denied a seat on the Town Council, will join the board next month after a Superior Court judge signed an agreement last week ending a dispute.
Town Council Chairwoman Suzanne Phillips said Kuech will be seated at the board’s next regular monthly meeting on March 10. The council usually meets on the first Tuesday of the month but will not meet March 3 because the state’s presidential primary election falls on that date.
Kuech was elected to a three-year term in November, but the Town Council disqualified her because she is a town employee. The council based its decision on an interpretation of the town’s charter, which says councilors “shall hold no office of emolument or profit under the town charter or ordinances.”
An ed tech at Narragansett School, Kuech filed a lawsuit in December but the town last week dodged litigation with an agreement that settled the case.
A court consent judgment, signed by Judge Thomas D. Warren on Feb. 12, stipulates that Kuech will be seated on the Town Council but she “is presumed to be recused from any vote related to the Gorham Education Department unless the remaining councilors vote to allow Ms. Kuech to vote on a particular school related item.”
Kuech also agreed to resign as a part-time town librarian before being sworn in. The town has canceled a special municipal election March 3 to fill the Town Council vacancy that resulted from Kuech’s disqualification.
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