ROCKLAND — The Rockland City Council has hired Attorney Linda McGill to proceed with a personnel issue that is afflicting city government. Mayor Louise McLellan-Ruf said Jan. 21 that McGill will tentatively return to Rockland and meet behind closed doors with the council Feb. 4 to continue addressing the issue. 

McGill, who is with the Portland-based firm Burnstein Shur, concentrates on labor and employment law. She was recommended to the city by another Portland law firm, Eaton Peabody, said McLelland-Ruf.

Rockland is paying McGill $300 per hour, said the city’s mayor.

The five-member Rockland Council is responsible for hiring and firing three city employees — the city manager, city attorney and city clerk. All other city positions, of which there are approximately 100, fall under the purview of City Manager James Chaousis.

The council agreed to hire McGill Jan. 19, when they met in executive session. After they voted to hire her, they went back into executive session with her for approximately two hours to discuss what the mayor referred to, “a personnel issue.”

The sessions behind closed doors follow employee investigations initiated Dec. 31 by Chaousis. The council met with him in a hastily-convened New Year’s Day three-hour meeting.

Following that, Chaousis fired the harbor master, who subsequently appealed his termination. On Jan. 19, a three-member city grievance committee heard the appeal behind closed doors, deliberated, and then announced it would uphold the city manager’s decision.

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