March 12

Selectmen say they won't resign despite recall petition following town clerk's firing

By Paul Koenig
Staff Writer

(Continued from page 1)

click image to enlarge

Staff photo by Andy Molloy END OF TERM: Ann Chadwick, center in blue, says she was terminated as town clerk Wednesday March 6, 2013 in Pittston by the selectmen.

In her April evaluation, the board found that Chadwick needed to improve in following supervisors' directions, limiting and correcting mistakes, upgrading her computer skills, not relying on others to perform her work, and filing and reconciling bank statements.

The board noted that Chadwick's performance hadn't improved by the next evaluation, on Nov. 28, and the selectmen wrote that she continually asked other employees to do her assigned tasks and made errors on post-election work, among other problems, according to the document.

Chadwick said she fell behind in training between April and November as a result of missing more than two months of work because of a shoulder replacement procedure.

The document lists a handful of other mistakes Chadwick made in January and February after her last evaluation, which led to the board's decision.

Tracy Johnson, Chadwick's niece and a petition organizer, said she would be shocked if all the reports of errors listed in the document were true.

"This is a woman who has served her town for over 24 years and was basically forced out for whatever reason," Johnson said.

Jane Hubert, a former selectmen, said she's not aware of the mistakes cited by the selectmen, and she objected to the way they handled the situation.

"I just feel as though it wasn't handled in a way that was respectful of her time and effort at the Town Office," she said.

Hubert is running against Burns-Macomber, along with Stanley Byrne, in the March 18 election.

She said she always tried to have Chadwick wait on her when she went to the Town Office and hopes the office will become "more people friendly" with a new staff.

"I like Pittston," she said. "It's just a nice place to live. I hope things do heal up OK."

Staff Writer Susan McMillan contributed to this report.

Paul Koenig -- 621-5663
pkoenig@mainetoday.com

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