The Thomaston Select Board released the following letter after the resignation of Anthony Leo last week from his brief reinstatement as the town's Fire and EMS chief.

Leo, who had been placed on unpaid administrative leave in October 2023 as the chief of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services departments in Thomaston pending an investigation of a sexual abuse case involving a teen, and was reinstated by the town of Thomaston Nov. 7, submitted his letter of resignation Nov. 13.

The Select Board letter follows:

The Thomaston Select Board acknowledges that our recent hiring decision and subsequent resignation in our Fire Department and EMS Services reawakened old wounds especially for those who have experiences with sexual assault, caused worry, and added additional pain for some members of our community and beyond.  We are truly sorry for not fully understanding those possible impacts of our actions.  We have learned much from this experience.  

This is a time for forgiveness, compassion, grace, and healing.  We are one community, and the Select Board is committed to working for the best interests of all our citizens.  We are far from perfect, but we strive to make sound decisions based on our varied knowledge, information, and experience.  These past couple of weeks have been no exception. We will apply the recent lessons learned to our future actions.

We are in the search process for a new combined Fire and EMS Chief position and will make every effort to fill that role promptly.  We are seeking applicants from both in-state and out-of-state to be sure we have a pool of as many qualified prospects as possible.  

We want to thank our First Responders, our Police, Fire and EMS Departments, for their unwavering service.  We want to assure the town that they are on duty and ready to respond whenever a call comes in.  They risk their lives daily to protect us and keep our community safe and for that we are enormously grateful.  They stand ready as always!

We have much to do over the next few months to heal our community and to move forward.  We assure you that we are up to the task and ask that you will join us in working together for the benefit of all!

Thomaston Select Board: Bill Hahn, Peter Lammert, Kimberly Matthews, Chris Rector and Sandra Moore