Resignation of Public Works Director. Update on the Investigation of the Fire Chief and Lieutenant.

Public Works Director Resigns

Shawn McLean, the town’s Director of Public Works, has reportedly submitted his resignation. The town’s website posted an advertisement for a replacement on May 22. The prior week the Board of Selectmen rejected the Director’s recommendation regarding approving a section of road. The board had earlier asked the Director to obtain an engineering firm’s recommendation about that section of road, but no recommendation was delivered to the board. Reportedly there had been many complaints filed with the town about the Director, including one signed by 37 employees. 

Investigation of the Fire Chief and Lieutenant

The investigation of the Fire Chief and Lieutenant, who have been on paid administrative leave since March 23, remains ongoing. Their son has released some new details on Facebook. 

The Fire Chief was interviewed for almost three hours on Monday, May 22. The interview was witnessed by his attorney. The Lieutenant was interviewed for almost three hours on Thursday, May 25. This interview was also witnessed. The accused were not informed of what they had been accused of prior to the interviews. 

Presumably with these interviews completed, the investigator will be able to submit their report to the Board of Selectmen. The board may receive a preliminary report in advance of its meeting tomorrow, Monday, June 5. Board Chairman Ben Bartlett at a past board meeting said that it would take two weeks for the board to receive a final report after the investigation was completed. 

Their son believes that a disgruntled Fire Department employee is the source of the complaint, and that this employee is most likely the employee whom the Fire Chief was investigating for falsification of a medical report. He further believes that “the investigator was used to perform an audit or risk assessment of the Fire Department.”

As previously reported, no written complaint was filed, contrary to the town’s stated policy. It has not been disclosed whether the verbal complaint was made to a member of the Board of Selectmen or whether it was made to John Scruton, the town’s former Interim Town Administrator. While the Board of Selectmen have said that they are following advice from the town’s attorney, it has not been disclosed whether the town’s attorney was consulted prior to putting the Chief and Lieutenant on paid administrative leave. 

If the complaint came from a member of the Fire Department, the town failed to follow the process for handling complaints as set forth in the Fire Department’s bylaws.