OGUNQUIT — Town Manager Thomas  A. Fortier,  charged  by police with theft and official oppression,  has been placed on paid administrative leave by the Ogunquit Select Board.

“Our responsibility now is to cooperate fully with law enforcement and to conduct our own inquiry,” said Select Board chairman Barbara Dailey in a statement issued to the Journal Tribune Saturday. “The Select Board will convene Monday to begin that process.”

Fortier, 51, of 9 Bowdwin Drive in Falmouth, was issued a summons on the two Class E misdemeanor counts Thursday by Wells police after the Ogunquit Police Department asked their Wells counterparts to investigate irregularities in parking fee practices.

“Our standard practice in these circumstances is to place our employee on paid administrative leave,” said Dailey,  confirming Fortier’s status. She pointed out that personnel matters are confidential under state law, and said the board cannot make any detailed statement.

An emergency  special meeting of the Select Board has been scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the Ogunquit Fire Department. The agenda calls for an executive session to consult with legal counsel on a personnel issue.

“The charges are a result of an alleged incident on July 4 involving the theft of an undisclosed amount of money from improperly charged parking fees,” said Wells Police Sgt. Gerald Congdon in a statement issued late Friday afternoon. “These fees were obtained under the direction of Mr. Fortier to employees in a parking lot owned by the Town of Ogunquit that is normally free parking after 4 p.m.”

Congdon wrote that the money was collected by employees and taken to Fortier. He said the unspecified amount has “gone unaccounted for and not turned over to the town of Ogunquit.”

Fortier is scheduled to appear at York District Court Oct. 27. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a maximum  of six months in jail on each of the two counts.

Dailey said Ogunquit Fire Chief Mark O’Brien is  serving as interim Town Manager, a task, she said, he does routinely during Town Manager absences.

“We are confident that all town operations will continue smoothly with Mark at the helm, and the support of the Select Board as may be required.,” Dailey continued.

Fortier was hired as town manager of Ogunquit in February 2009. He served as town manager of Richmond from 2007- 09, and as a neighborhood administrator in Portland from 1989 to 2006, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Police are asking anyone who was charged to park in an Ogunquit parking lot after 4 p.m. on July 4 to contact Sgt. Chad Arrowsmith at 646-9354 or [email protected]

Attempts to reach Fortier were unsuccessful. One telephone listing for him has been disconnected; another does not accept messages.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].