Westbrook officials are so far standing by Assistant City Administrator Bill Baker, who is at the center of a furor following the public release of an email he wrote to the mayor in February that mocked a number of residents, business owners and volunteers.

Despite the strong public response from residents and those named in the email, Mayor Colleen Hilton said she has “absolutely no intentions” of asking for Baker’s resignation.

In his email, made public Monday at the Westbrook City Council meeting, Baker said he was writing what he “wanted to say” in response to an inquiry from Michael Shaughnessy, the president of the Friends of the Presumpscot organization, about a recently installed sculpture project along the riverwalk.

“This is the dumbest (expletive) idea I’ve ever heard,” he said. “I know they say art is in the eye of the beholder, but really, you want to clog up the riverwalk with (expletive) bird houses that some little (expletive) will vandalize in the first 10 minutes.”

The email was read publicly Monday by Westbrook resident and business owner Deb Shangraw. She said she obtained a series of city emails from a recent Freedom of Information Act request pertaining to budgetary issues, which included the email from Baker.

Baker sent an apology letter Tuesday to those he named in the email, writing he was “deeply sorry and embarrassed.” He characterized the email as a “self-inflicted wound made possible by my reckless written words.”

Hilton said Tuesday that after she received the email in February, sent on the city’s email account, she called Baker, saying she was “worried” about him. She called the email “atypical” for Baker.

“It was a private email addressed to me expressing a satirical commentary on some very frustrating situations,” she said, adding that she asked Baker if he needed time off. “I told him that it’s not OK.”

Shangraw sent a letter to the Westbrook City Council Wednesday, urging councilors to request that Baker resign. The letter also references the incident involving Councilor Paul Emery last month.

Emery was at the center of public outcry over his comments directed toward Gov. Paul LePage, when he stated that he wouldn’t be hurt if LePage “goes to see his maker.” Following the statement, the council voted on a resolve to urge Emery to resign. He did not.

“I urge you as our collective representatives to treat this matter as you did Councilor Emery’s incident,” Shangraw said in the letter. “I realize you do not have the authority to force a resignation, but I am requesting you issue a resolve or statement requesting the immediate resignation of Bill Baker.”

Among those named in Baker’s email are Westbrook artist Caren Michel, who serves on the city’s Art & Culture Committee; James Tranchemontagne, the owner of the Frog & Turtle restaurant; Shangraw, who owns Emerald Property Management; City Councilor Mike Sanphy, and My Place Teen Center Executive Director Donna Dwyer.

In the email, he says, “collaboration is not possible,” because Michel will “be blaming the city for not maintaining those pieces of (expletive) five minutes after she says she supports them being there,” and that Tranchemontagne and Shangraw will “be asking what public money paid for them.” It also says Sanphy “will help them file the Freedom of Information Act request.”

Baker also mocked Dwyer in the email, in which he says she “will argue that (the sculptures) need to be bigger and must have kitchens to feed the 137 kids a day she feeds – by they way you will need to build her stipend in to the cost of construction – she is due 15 percent on the cost of material and labor for anything built within three blocks of the teen center.”

The email also brings in Sappi Fine Paper. Baker’s wrote, “Lastly you may not have heard – not only does this administration hate kids – but we hate fish more – Thanks to you Sappi will spend 7 million dollars helping 7 fish get over the falls – that is one million a fish you idiot.”

In his apology, Baker called his email a “highly inappropriate, but satirical parody.”

“The improper purpose was to lighten the mood or vent some frustration in the wake of constant taunting from a small group of mean-spirited people with a harmful political agenda led by James Tranchemontagne,” he said in his apology.

Hilton said Tuesday that Baker and other city staff are constantly “pummeled by a small group of people in this community for everything they do.”

“There is truth to the frustration there, and it’s tough, tough work to be a public servant,” she said.

The story ignited after the American Journal, which attended the City Council meeting Monday, posted its report on the newspaper’s website and Facebook pages Tuesday. Comments poured in on social media, and other regional media outlets followed.

Michel, responding on Facebook Tuesday, said Baker’s comments expose “a disturbing undercurrent of disrespect for the citizens that he and the mayor are supposed to work for. It also exposes his lack of understanding of how the arts are fundamental to economic development.”

Michel said she believes Baker should resign.

Sanphy said Wednesday that the council was “shocked” by the email when it was read in the council chambers Monday, and that he hopes the email is not a trend with Baker.

“Freedom of information is a good tool,” he said, referring to Baker’s comment. “It keeps government transparent. If there’s nothing to hide, why would you fear it?”

However, Sanphy added, Baker sent him a personal apology about the comments. Sanphy, a former Westbrook police sergeant, added that during Baker’s tenure as police chief, he constantly told officers to be careful about what they wrote on email.

The February email that prompted Baker’s response was from Shaughnessy, who asked city officials for their assistance in supporting the art project for his class at the University of Southern Maine.

In the actual email Baker sent to Shaughnessy in February about the project, he is helpful, giving Shaughnessy contacts to assist with the project and stating admiration for his “initiative.”

When asked about the email Tuesday, Shaughnessy said it was “shocking and revealing,” but said he would still work with Baker going forward.

“I’m not holding any grudges or taking it personally,” he said.

Baker said Tuesday that he regrets sending the email. He said he has lived by the words, “If you don’t think stupid, you won’t say stupid,” for 40 years. He said that since the email was read on Monday, he has received a number of emails of support.

In his apology letter, he also said, “I live and breathe my commitment to showcase this city in a positive light.”

“Those words are not a reflection of how I think, how I speak, or how I treat people publicly or privately,” he said about the email.

Baker, the former Westbrook police chief from 2007-2011, transitioned to the city’s assistant city administrator in mid-2012, concentrating on business and community relations. Since then, he has worked, and succeeded, in bringing a number of new businesses to the city, as well as putting Westbrook on the map for large events such as Tough Mudder, which is returning this summer.

He has also advocated for the city to focus on economic development from the Presumpscot River, assisting in the push for the removal of the Saccarappa Dams and creating recreational opportunities on the river. Under his tenure, a new, award-winning city website was created, and more recently, he rejuvinated a discussion about Westbrook’s image, spearheading the development of a downtown revitalization effort. This year, Baker’s salary is roughly $111,000.

Hilton said that since the email was made public Monday, she has received a number of emails from Westbrook business owners who said their business wouldn’t be in Westbrook if it wasn’t for Baker.

Rob Mitchell, the owner of HVAC Services and developer of a new riverfront office building in Westbrook, said Wednesday that Baker was a “huge help” in sorting through red tape to focus on his development in the city. He also believes it’s a “critical time” in the city and sees Baker as having a large role.

“With the dam removal, river restoration and economic push, I cannot imagine anyone else accomplishing those monumental tasks,” he said.

Referencing Tranchemontagne and Shangraw, Baker wrote in his apology that he “handed the people who publicly denigrate the City, the Administration and hardworking public employees the opportunity to do more damage.”

Shangraw felt that Baker’s apology was “demeaning and accusatory,” and she expressed disbelief that while Hilton would ask for Emery’s resignation, no discipline would be handed to Baker.

“You can’t apologize and take blame in one sentence and then demean and blame those very same people you harmed in the next sentence and pretend that is a real and heartfelt apology,” she said.

City Councilor Michael Foley commented Wednesday that while Baker’s email remarks were “disappointing,” he sometimes shares Baker’s frustration with people in the community that “do nothing but try to find bad things.”

Councilor John O’Hara said he’s received two emails from constituents since Baker’s email was released, both condemning the language.

O’Hara said he’s also concerned for the possibility that this is a “true pattern.” But until it’s confirmed to be true, O’Hara said, he doesn’t believe Baker deserves discipline.

“Clearly there’s a wedge now between people in the business community and his ability to do his job effectively,” he said. “That gives me concern because Bill has been one of the best economic development directors that we’ve had for as long as I’ve been here.”

The released email shows no response from Hilton, but at last week’s City Council meeting, Hilton publicly thanked Baker and the other involved parties for their work on the art project. Baker said he never received an email response from Hilton.

Tranchemontagne, who is also the vice president of the Westbrook-Gorham Community Chamber, said the chamber will be sending out a press release regarding the email soon.

However, speaking as a resident and business owner, he said he’s not sure why Baker singled him out in his apology letter. He said the group of people Baker names in the email, including himself, “work very hard to improve the city and move business forward.”

He said that as a business owner, the city is constantly supportive and helpful to him, but feels that he is unfairly targeted because he routinely “questions” the Westbrook budget and administrative salaries. Tranchmontagne, who ran for mayor in 2013, said he has supported most of Baker’s initiatives, and worked as the food coordinator during the BikeMaine event last year.

He said both Baker and Emery should resign.

“These comments are just distractions,” he said.

Westbrook Assistant City Administrator Bill Baker