Jackie Sartoris announced her resignation, effective immediately, from the Brunswick Sewer District Board Thursday, after questions were raised about a possible conflict of interest concerning her service.

Sartoris’s husband, Steve Walker, was elected to the Brunswick Town Council in November 2013. Although the sewer district is quasigovernmental and does not answer to the council, in December, the council adopted a conflict of interest policy that included members of the sewer and water boards as individuals who should not have a familial conflict of interest by having a family member on the town council.

Sartoris had served as vice president of the sewer board since 2012. She had been appointed to a threeyear term, but with her husband’s election to the town council, she felt that she could be in violation of the new policy.

However, the council asked her to remain on, pointing out that the policy was not intended to be retroactive to existing board members. She agreed to stay on the board until they reviewed the policy.

Jonathan Crimmins, who serves as chairman of the Brunswick Republican Party, came to a May 8 sewer board meeting and asked Sartoris about her service, given the new policy. At Tuesday’s council meeting, Crimmins asked again about the policy. The town council informed Crimmins that no conflict applied in her case.

“I had just checked the website and noticed the names,” Crimmins said in an interview on Thursday. “So I thought I’d ask, since Brunswick has had a history of conflict issues in the past.”

Speaking Friday morning, Crimmins said he felt “indifferent” to Sartoris’s resignation, but that news of Sartoris’s resignation was surprising.

Crimmins noted that the council on Tuesday had tabled discussion on changing its conflict of interest policy to exclude several boards, including the sewer board.

“If there’s a chance for her to serve again on any boards or committees, fantastic, just not while her husband is on the town council,” Crimmins said.

Sartoris is running for the Democratic primary for the District 50 house seat in a contested race against Ralph Tucker.

In a revised statement to The Times Record on Friday, Sartoris wrote: “I’m very supportive of the Town Council’s attempts to adopt a prudent conflict of interest policy for town boards and committees. Per the council’s request, I have remained a trustee on the Sewer Board while the council reviewed the policy it adopted in December 2013. Although the Sewer Board is not a town entity, the policy created an apparent conflict, midway through my service on the board, with my husband’s service as a newly elected town councilor. In the run up to the June 10 Democratic primary, it’s clear that my continuing presence on the board will be used for political gain while the council’s policy remains as it is. I’m also concerned that the (Sewer) District’s proposal to update our aging treatment plant may be unduly politicized by the current climate. The proposal deserves a fair analysis by the ratepayers, and the support of our local leaders.

“I’ve enjoyed my service on the board, and thank Chair (Charlie) Priest and the council for the opportunity. I look forward to seeing District 50 voters at their doors in the coming weeks.”

JOHN SWINCONECK contributed to this story.

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