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Newburgh town employees resign en masse
NEWBURGH, Maine — Turmoil and controversy that have gripped this small Penobscot County town continued Thursday with the sudden resignations of all but one of the town office’s employees.
A routine Board of Selectmen workshop ceded to drama when Town Manager Rick Briggs, Assistant Town Clerk Jill Gilman and Town Clerk Lois Libby, who has worked in the Newburgh town office for 32 years, all resigned effective immediately. Part-time Deputy Treasurer Sue Lessard, who took her position on an interim basis several months ago, did not resign but is also technically no longer an employee because she was Briggs’ appointee.
Like former selectmen Belcher and Leona Smith, the three employees who stepped down Thursday cited a caustic atmosphere created by a group of concerned citizens called the Fixers. Burns is one of the founding members of the Fixers, a loosely affiliated cadre who have been combing through town finances for more than a year and challenging elected and appointed town officials on a range of issues. Their scrutiny intensified after the revelation in March 2010 that former Deputy Treasurer Cindy Dunton had embezzled $200,000 from town coffers beginning in 2006. Dunton, who discussed her crimes during an interview with the BDN last month, has pleaded guilty to felony theft by unauthorized taking and faces a prison term of up to 10 years. Her sentencing is scheduled for July 1 at the Penobscot Judicial Center in Bangor.
“There has been a recent change in the tone of government in Newburgh, therefore I must regrettably submit this resignation,” wrote Assistant Clerk Gilman, who was hired a few months ago.
http://new.bangordailynews.com/2011/05/05/news/newburgh-employees-resign-en-masse/?ref=mostReadBox
