Damariscotta Selectman Vicky Pinkham leveled a bitter criticism at Board of Selectmen chairman Dick McLean last week “leaving all of us hanging out to dry.”
During the board’s bi-monthly meeting June 16, Pinkham tried to call the board into executive session to issue her criticism, but McLean waived his right to have the matter discussed behind closed doors.
Pinkham said McLean overstepped his position when he stood up at Damariscotta’s annual town meeting June 9 and said that it was unfair for the town to grant three percent pay raises to the police patrol officers and not grant similar raises to the town’s office staff.
Speaking on June 9, McLean told the town meeting he was speaking as a citizen and not as the board chairman. He apologized to the board July 16 saying he did not mean to embarrass them.
Pinkham and other board members had recommended no raises for any town workers in the new budget. The town budget committee disagreed and recommended raises for Damariscotta’s five police patrol officers.
“We had voted for (no raises) and you did that (spoke in favor of raises for the office staff) without us knowing what you were going to do. You over stepped your position,” Pinkham said.
Josh Pinkham noted McLean had a right as a citizen to voice his opinion on the subject, but said McLean should have presented the matter to the board, if he had a problem with the board’s decision to forego raises for the office staff. “so we didn’t look like a bunch of fools.”
Vicky Pinkham urged McLean to resign as board chairman and Josh Pinkham agreed, saying, “It is time that someone else take the reins.”
McLean noted that newly elected board members, David Atwater, who was re-elected, and Ronn Orenstein, would be sworn into office at the next meeting and new board officers would be elected at that time.
