ROCKLAND, Maine — The Rockland City Council will be huddling behind closed doors Thursday afternoon to discuss personnel matters in the wake of a scathing letter from the city manager.
The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The agenda calls for executive sessions to consult with the city attorney and with an outside attorney specializing in labor laws about a personnel matter.
While the specific personnel matter was not listed, the scheduling of the meeting comes the week after City Manager James Chaousis sent the mayor a letter calling for the termination of the contract of city attorney Kevin Beal. The manager said if the council would not follow through on his recommendation, he suggested councilors should consider a separation agreement with him.
In last week’s letter, Chaousis references the claims he made to the council in December 2015 that the city attorney had demonstrated insubordination and participated in unethical and illegal activities. The city manager did not elaborate, and no details about any allegations against the city attorney have ever been made public.
Beal’s attorney, Daniel Nuzzi, and the city’s outside attorney, Linda McGill, both said that Beal was not under investigation. City councilors also defended the attorney in comments made after the letter became public.
“I am requesting that the City Council update me regarding this situation or consider a separation agreement regarding my position. Further delays in addressing this issue will only aggravate the relationship further,” Chaousis concluded in last week’s letter.