South Portland official Dana Anderson orchestrated the job creation and promotion of a pool supervisor to second-in-command of the city’s largest consolidated department without advertising the post or interviewing other candidates, according to memos released by the city this week.

The city released a series of memos from 2008 in response to a request for information from The Current on the hiring of Tim Gato, the deputy chief of public works, parks, recreation and libraries.

The process that lead to Gato’s hiring has been questioned as a part of ongoing public criticism in recent months after the city laid off five longtime city employees, four of which worked in the department managed by Anderson and Gato.

The memos show that Anderson worked behind the scenes to write a job description and lobby for Gato, who started with the city as aquatics director six years ago, to be reclassified as deputy chief in the department Anderson heads.

Describing Gato as a handpicked “apprentice” and successor to his director’s job, Anderson sent a memo to Human Resources Director John McGough in October 2008 urging him to create the deputy chief job and put Gato in it, as “deserving of this responsibility.”

Several residents have suggested that the city update, tighten and clarify policies for hiring, promoting and terminating employees. At a recent City Council workshop, Councilor Patti Smith – who works as a human resources director – offered some broad suggestions for improving personnel policies.

Meanwhile, residents have kept up a steady barrage of complaints about the layoffs of five city workers in February and the management practices of Anderson. Four of the posts were in Anderson’s departments.

Resident Nancy Richardson told the council this month that she believes there are “hiring and promotion inequities” in Gato’s appointment to deputy chief.

Buzz Sanborn, another frequent critic of the recent layoffs, also complained to the council about Gato’s promotion and how it was handled.

“How is it we came upon one person in Parks and Recreation to become the deputy director with no competition for the job?” he asked the council, complaining the promotion should have been based on merit, “not friendship.”

Gato has not returned calls for comment. Anderson also declined to comment on Gato’s promotion.

Anderson temporarily left his job two weeks ago, when City Manager Jim Gailey ordered him to take an administrative leave of absence in the wake of an out-of-court settlement involving embezzlement allegations against him.

Anderson was accused in a civil suit of embezzling money from the International Association of Affiliated Basketball Officials, where he volunteered as treasurer. Anderson denied the allegations and maintained his innocence, settling out of court in April for $900.

He was ordered to take the administrative leave pending an independent audit of the city departments he leads, although city officials say they have no evidence to suspect that there was any wrongdoing.

The embezzlement allegations are unrelated to the complaints some people have made about Anderson since the February layoffs. Deb Smith, who managed the South PortlandCommunity Center, suggested that conflicts she had with Anderson led to her job termination.

She has indicated those conflicts had to do with management practices since Gato took over as deputy chief at the end of 2008. The city has asked for an independent review of a written statement Smith gave to Gailey and Mayor Tom Blake.

In an explanation published on the South Portland municipal Web site, Gailey confirmed that Gato had been hired for the position last fall without the job being advertised or other candidates interviewed.

Gailey said he agreed to McGough’s request to make the appointment and job reclassification because Gato already had assumed many of the duties in the proposed job description.

Gailey wrote that these duties had been offered to other city workers, who had turned them down. Gato then took them on himself, Gailey wrote.

“Tim had taken on responsibility that spanned over three of the four divisions,” Gailey wrote. “No other employee had asked for or volunteered for this cross-over responsibility within the department.

“Without an organizational second-in-command and with the ongoing need for someone to step in when the director was out, Tim’s position was reclassified to deputy director, which was more in line with his current workload.”

Smith, contacted for comment, said that to her knowledge no one in the community center had been offered additional duties as described by Gailey. Smith had worked for the city for 27 years. She said she would have heard about the new job roles if they had been offered.

Gailey also wrote that the city only publicly advertises for candidates for department head positions and police and fire jobs, which is required by the city charter.

In the October 2008 memo to McGough, Anderson wrote: “For the past year, I have treated Tim as an intern/apprentice to my job as director … Due to the uncertain times we face, and the need to get the right people at the table for the betterment of our city, I feel this is the right thing to do and the right time to do it.”

Anderson had also referred to Gato as his “heir apparent” during a budget workshop with the City Council.

Gato, who was hired in 2002 to run the muncipal pool, was appointed to the new position by Gailey after McGough forwarded Anderson’s recommendation with a proposed salary increase.

Gato was making $53,830 as operations manager. As assistant director, Gato was moved up to $58,260, an 8.2 percent salary increase.

With Anderson on leave, Gato has assumed official leadership of Public Works, Parks and Recreation and Library, the city’s largest department.