SANGERVILLE, Maine — A mistake by Sangerville selectmen could cost the town hundreds of dollars in legal expenses.
The board on Nov. 24 admitted it erred when Selectman Charles Cleaves acted as overseer of the Public Works Department in late October during the absence of the town manager, a violation of Maine law.
That oversight and an alleged break-in on Oct. 30 of his personal toolbox at the town garage prompted Randy Cookson, Sangerville’s public works director, to request protection from harassment orders against Cleaves and resident Frank Ruskznis and to file a grievance with the town.
When selectmen learned of Cookson’s court filings, they voted to go into executive session on Nov. 10 for a legal matter, but actually discussed whether they needed to hire an attorney, a clear violation of Maine’s Right to Know law. They later voted in open session to consult with an attorney regarding the court action and the violation.
That move was criticized at a Nov. 24 selectmen’s meeting by resident Chuck Bean, who asked why the town hired an attorney to represent Cleaves at the hearing when Cleaves alone was named on the protection order request. He suggested that if the town was paying for an attorney to represent Cleaves, then it also should be paying the legal expenses incurred by Cookson.
Since Cookson’s harassment complaint and the toolbox incident were lumped together in Cookson’s petition to the court, the board felt justified in getting legal advice, according to Selectman Harold Leland.
Cleaves said the attorney, who represented the town at the Nov. 19 court hearing on the protection requests, was there to monitor the proceedings. “This lawyer was only monitoring the events for the town of Sangerville,” he said at the Nov. 24 board meeting. “He did not represent me [or] give me any legal advice.”
The harassment complaint stems from when Town Manager Joe Clark was on vacation in late October. Cleaves stepped in for Clark, but his supervision of road work was in violation of Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30A, Chapter 123, Sections 2634 and 2635, selectmen admitted at their Nov. 24 meeting.
Maine law stipulates that a town manager must designate a qualified person, subject to board approval, to perform his duties during an absence or a short-term disability. Otherwise, the board must vote to appoint a temporary replacement.
The law also is specific in that selectmen act as a body to deal with administrative services solely through the town manager and, as such, they cannot give orders to any employees who are under the town manager’s supervision, either publicly or privately.
“Joe was absent for 10 days. During that 10 days, work continued on the roads and Charlie took some concern about that and was overseeing that,” Selectman Len Nilson said at last month’s meeting. “He was not overseeing independently. We had sort of agreed that something needed to be done; we have since found out that was an incorrect procedure to follow.”
Cleaves said that any direction he gave on road work during Clark’s absence had been discussed by the three selectmen.
The toolbox incident was part of a pattern of harassment Cookson claims has been meted out by Cleaves since September and which prompted him to file protection from harassment requests against Cleaves and Ruksznis, who is plant manager of the Guilford-Sangerville Sanitary District.
Those protection requests were denied by District Court Judge Kevin Stitham, so Cookson filed an appeal heard Nov. 19 in Dover-Foxcroft District Court. At the appeals hearing, Cleaves agreed to a consent agreement that requires him to abide by Maine statutes. The request for a protection order against Ruksznis was dismissed without prejudice.
Cookson alleged both publicly and in his protection from harassment request that Cleaves and Ruksznis entered the town garage together on Oct. 30 and broke a padlock on his personal toolbox and rifled through his tools. Another town employee alleged he saw both Cleaves and Ruksznis inside the garage the day the toolbox was broken into.
Nazier Clukey said this week that he opened the town garage on Oct. 30 and left the building for about 10 minutes to collect the garbage at the town office and fire station. During that time, Clukey said Cleaves came to the fire station and asked him how long he was going to be and then left. When Clukey returned to the town garage, he alleged he saw Ruksznis rifling through the toolbox and Cleaves leaning on his crutches next to Ruksznis. Although Clukey said he did not see anyone cut the padlock, he did see a pair of bolt cutters on the floor.
Cookson told police he had been working on Burrough’s Road on Oct. 30 when he received a text message from his friend Alex Ruksznis, Frank Ruksznis’ son. In that text message dated 10:48 a.m. Oct. 30, the younger Ruksznis advised Cookson that Ruksznis’ father and Cleaves both had looked in his toolbox.
No one has publicly said why the pair may have been allegedly searching the toolbox.
Cleaves has denied breaking into the toolbox and Ruskznis declined to comment Monday, saying it was a legal matter.
State police Trooper Paul White confirmed this week he had investigated the toolbox incident and had forwarded the information last week to Piscataquis County District Attorney R. Christopher Almy for his review.
Almy said Tuesday that no charges will be filed in the case. “There’s no solid evidence in this case,” he said. “The evidence is ambiguous at best.” Almy said an eyewitness, Cleaves, said the toolbox was not broken into. If the case were presented to a jury or a judge, Almy said there was no way they would come to a conclusion of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Cookson said the state trooper never came to the town garage to discuss the toolbox incident but had discussed it with him over the telephone.
Cookson said he does not know if anything is missing from his toolbox. He said he had not touched the toolbox since the incident, because he thought the state trooper was going to inspect it and perhaps take fingerprints. He said he had not been told that the complaint had been dropped.
Clukey said he also had talked with the trooper over the telephone and had been asked to fill out a witness statement, but had not yet submitted it to the district attorney. He was surprised Almy had already ruled out prosecution.
At his grievance hearing held at the Nov. 24 meeting, Cookson said “it’s not right” that his toolbox was broken into. He always kept the toolbox locked, just as a homeowner would keep his house locked, Cookson said during the grievance session, which was aired publicly at his request. He asked the board who had authorized the break-in of his toolbox.
Nilson said at last month’s meeting that the toolbox incident was under investigation by the state police and therefore was not in the board’s hands. “Clearly if somebody broke into the box, it is not right,” Nilson said. “The question is, who did it.”
To which Cleaves replied, “I wasn’t in your toolbox.”
Cookson, who also was surprised that Almy was not pursuing the case, said this week he had no plans to drop the matter and would be consulting with his attorney.
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