W. Bath voters to decide on settlement

WEST BATH

A settlement agreement for a former West Bath Fire Department deputy chief who brought suit against West Bath and two former fire chiefs alleging violation of the Maine Human Rights Act and the Maine Whistleblowers Protection Act will be considered by West Bath voters at a special town meeting tonight.

Michael Drake, a West Bath resident and former deputy chief of the West Bath Fire Department, alleges in a complaint filed February 2013 in Sagadahoc County Superior Court that he was terminated from his position as deputy chief after informing town officials that he had “learned of a variety of ways” in which then-Fire Chief Michael Demers, of Bath, had misused funds and equipment of the Volunteer Firefighters Association.

The settlement, negotiated November 2013 in mediation between the defendants, including one selectmen representing the three-member Board of Selectmen, and Drake, represented by attorney Howard Reben, presents two options for residents to consider for approval at Town Meeting.

Option one requires the town pay Drake $25,000 and provide Drake with a letter of recommendation. Drake is to resign his position at the Volunteer Firefighters Association of West Bath and forgo any right to future employment by the town of West Bath.

Option two requires the town pay Drake $16,500 and provide Drake with a letter of recommendation, and allows Drake to retain his position with the Volunteer Firefighters Association of West Bath.

After a motion hearing on July 8, Justice Andrew M. Horton imposed a $300 sanction on West Bath, finding in favor of Drake on a motion to enforce the settlement agreement.

Justice Horton stated that selectmen had agreed to call a Town Meeting by Feb. 28, in the terms of the settlement, and the case had been stayed until April to allow for a voter-approved settlement to be completed.

However, “it was not until after the Feb. 28 deadline passed that attorney Reben learned that the Board did not intend to call a Town meeting because the two Board members who did not go to mediation did not agree with the Settlement Agreement,” the July order states.

The order also requires the selectmen to recommend one of the settlement options, stating that if the selectmen fail to recommend an option, that would “give the Plaintiff an additional ground on which to request sanctions against the Town.”

Selectmen had not as of Wednesday morning made a recommendation, however, West Bath Town Administrator Jon Davis said they would make a recommendation prior to a vote at the Thursday Town Meeting, in compliance with the court order.

West Bath, Demers and former Chief Barry MacArthur, who succeeded Demers in the office, represented by attorney Roger Theriault, deny the allegations brought by Drake, noting in Demers’ affirmative defense that Drake “had no reasonable basis to believe that there was a violation of law or rule as evidenced by the fact that all of the allegations of wrongdoing were determined to be false.”

Drake alleges that Demers was “using the town’s fire engine to raise money for a private purpose in a way prohibited by the Town Selectmen, namely by charging private citizens of West Bath a fee for filling their swimming pools with water.”

Drake informed then- Town Administrator Pam Hile and two selectmen of the misuses in February 2011, according to the complaint. Drake was then terminated from his position in a March 2011 letter from Demers and then-Deputy Chief Barry MacArthur which cited “tension and unhappiness,” during the preceding month.

In March, West Bath informed Drake that he had been “inappropriately terminated and the termination was a ‘nullity,’” the complaint states, and West Bath admits in its answer to Drake’s complaint.

The following month Demers resigned as chief and MacArthur was made the new chief, after which Drake claims he resumed his duties as deputy chief until MacArthur informed Drake on April 12 that he was terminated as deputy chief, “and he would not even be a lieutenant, a lower supervisory rank.”

The settlement payment option selected by voters “will be allocated between attorneys’ fees and W-2 wages at the direction of (Drake’s) attorney, Howard Reben,” according to the settlement.

The West Bath town website states, “The matter before you seeks to minimize the Town’s financial exposure in this matter and to not expose the Town to the uncertainties of a jury trial.”

If voters reject both options at Town Meeting, the case will proceed to trial at the superior court.

The special Town Meeting will take place tonight at 6 p.m. at the West Bath Fire Hall, located at 192 State Road, West Bath. At the meeting, residents will also vote on an ordinance to establish a Board of Road Commissioners.

rgargiulo@timesrecord.com

VOTERS TO DECIDE

OPTION ONE: Town pays former West Bath Fire Department Deputy Chief Michael Drake $25,000, provide letter of recommendation; he resigns position at the Volunteer Firefighters Association of West Bath and forgoes any future employment by the town.

OPTION TWO: requires the town pay Drake $16,500 and provide Drake with a letter of recommendation, and allows Drake to retain his position with the Volunteer Firefighters Association of West Bath.

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