ROCKLAND — Rockland City Manager James Chaousis said Jan. 5 that investigations are currently underway of at least two city employees. Computers have been removed from those employees as part of the investigation.

There are approximately 100 city employees and the business of human resource management is a significant task of Rockland city government, the city manager commented, as part of a conversation about the mechanics of personnel investigations.

Rockland City Council talked with the city attorney behind closed doors for approximately 90 minutes at the Jan. 4 regularly scheduled council meeting. The councilors talked with the attorney about their rights and responsibilities concerning personnel matters, said Chaousis.

He declined to discuss aspects of the investigation and said information will be publicly available as “law permits.”

“There are lots of steps involved before the public’s ability to review,” he said. “The taxpayer will get clarification when the investigation has concluded.”

JAN. 4: ROCKLAND — Councilors' lips are sealed as to why they remained behind closed doors for three hours Saturday afternoon with the Rockland City Manager, other than to say they were discussing personnel-related matters. And the talks are to continue Monday evening, Jan. 4, again in executive session. Councilors took no action following their exit from Saturday’s executive session.

On the Monday agenda, the executive session is to focus on "the discussion of personnel matters for evaluation of personnel." It will be preceded by a regular agenda-setting meeting for the Council's Jan. 11 meeting. Topics to be discussed in open session include Main Street lighting, and agenda-setting procedures. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. a Council Chambers at City Hall, 270 Pleasant Street.

The special meeting that took place Saturday afternoon in Council Chambers lasted for three hours. There are five elected city councilors — Mayor Louise MacLellan Ruf, Larry Pritchett, William Jillson, Will Clayton and Valli Geiger — and they agreed to convene the special meeting just the day before, on Jan. 1. 

Pritchett said the councilors had one-by-one talked via phone to set up the meeting. The majority of them agreed a meeting was warranted, he said.

"Any member of council can request a special meeting and if a majority concurs, the meeting can be called," said Pritchett, in a Jan. 3 phone conversation. "If a member feels a special meeting is warranted, they start that phone call cycle to see if the council concurs."

He said he had received a call from Geiger, proposing the meeting.

Rockland’s city charter allows for special meetings to be convened, contingent on 12-hour public notice to citizens and media. Notice of the meeting was circulated at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 1.

On Jan. 1, Pritchett said in an email the meeting was not about just one employee, nor one issue.

""Personnel questions involving more than one city employee have been brought to council members attention in the last 10 days," he said. "A majority of council felt the number, range and complexity of questions warranted a special meeting of the body."

In a Jan. 3 phone conversation, he reiterated that the meeting did not focus on one employee. He referred to the "sheer volume of material" as personnel-related questions.

When a government body cites the need for executive session concerning a personnel issue, it references state law that allows for the "discussion or consideration of the employment, appointment, assignment, duties, promotion, demotion, compensation, evaluation, disciplining, resignation, or dismissal of personnel...."

The council had already scheduled the Jan. 4 closed door session to talk about the issues, but councilors abruptly agreed Jan. 1 to start the discussion earlier.

In previously published news reports concerning the meeting, references were made to a memo circulated by City Manager James Chaousis to councilors concerning the chain of command in calling on the services of the city attorney.

When asked whether that was the trigger for calling the special Saturday meeting, Pritchett said no.

That question "is purely procedural" and will likely be addressed in open session by the council, he said.

"We will deal with that in public," he said. "That no way rises to executive session."

That memo (which is attached as a PDF) said:

“Administration of the City has been tumultuous over the last 10 months since my appointment as the City Manager. Often, there is a disconnect between communications coming from the City Council, City Manager, and the City Attorney. This also appears to be a repeated pattern of behavior from the Legal Department in which the City Council has offered guidance. It does not appear that this guidance has had an effect. It is clear that the City has deviated from the path written in the Rockland Charter and Code and I intend to bring that direction back through this order, new protocols, and reporting systems. I want to reference the various elements of the charter and code in this order for clarity.”

Pritchett said that the council appreciates that Rockland citizens have questions about executive sessions, in particular those concerning personnel issues.

"All of the city's employees work to serve the community," he said. "Anytime personnel questions arise, it is critical for council to be diligent and respectful to all parties involved. Personnel questions require careful thoughtful consideration about how to proceed and what information is needed to proceed."

He cited the legal need for confidentiality.

"Personnel questions then require cautious review of that information and focused deliberations," he said. "All those steps are essential and take time. It is important (and typically required by law) that these steps be taken in a confidential manner. Every time a personnel question arise, I try to think about how to handle this is a professional manner that fully examines the question and is fair to all. I would ask community members to be fair to all involved by respecting the confidential nature of the process."

On Jan. 2, he said in an email: "Any council action would likely require additional deliberations and subsequent meetings, should council conclude that among the variety of questions poised any actually rise to the level of council action.... Veteran councilors are frustrated to hear similar issues arise year after. All councilors want communication among city leadership;, i.e., council members, manager, attorney and clerk, to work well."

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657