ORRINGTON, Maine — Former Fire Chief Mike Spencer has appealed his termination by Town Manager Paul White and asked the Board of Selectmen to hold a hearing about his firing in public, according to town attorney Edmond Bearor of Bangor.
Bearor said a date for the hearing has not been set but he expected it would be held the week of May 9, when the board is scheduled to hold its regular meeting.
A group of residents upset about Spencer’s firing filled the selectmen’s meeting Monday hoping to talk to the board about the action but were shut down before the discussion began, according to a previously published report. At that meeting, Bearor said selectmen could not take comments on the termination because Spencer had not yet filed an appeal, which is when the selectmen would “basically act as the grievance board.”
Spencer is expected to be represented at the hearing by Bangor attorney A.J. Greif, who specializes in employment law.
Efforts to reach Spencer and Greif Thursday afternoon were unsuccessful.
Spencer’s salary was approximately $50,000 a year.
He was suspended with pay on April 14 and fired on April 20, according to a previously published report.
Spencer was disciplined by town officials three years ago.
In the spring of 2013, he was suspended without pay for two weeks because he allowed off-duty firefighters and others to hang out at the fire station, did not record 12 hours of sick time and drove a town vehicle to his other job.
Spencer said at the time that he informed those who gathered regularly at the fire station that they could no longer do so, that he forgot to write down the sick time and that he used the designated chief’s vehicle to go to his job at R.H. Foster so that he could get back to town if there was an incident.
Those matters became public during an open grievance hearing conducted at Spencer’s request.
Spencer was elected fire chief by the department’s firefighters in 2004. The next year, he combined the town’s volunteer fire and rescue departments into one municipal department and was appointed chief.
BDN writers Dawn Gagnon and Nok-Noi Ricker contributed to this report.
Watch bangordailynews.com for updates.