LIVERMORE FALLS — Town Manager Amanda Allen has been placed on indefinite paid administrative leave by mutual agreement with selectmen while an attorney investigates allegations recently brought in a nonbinding citizen petition.

Allen, who has missed the past three Select Board meetings, was placed on leave Monday.

Amanda Allen Courtesy file photo

Select Board Chairman Jim Long announced the leave Tuesday.

The board voted 5-0 to hire attorney Stacey Neumann of Murray Plumb & Murray in Portland, who is chairperson of the firm’s criminal/white collar defense and employment practice groups, to conduct the investigation.

Compensation for the investigation is still being negotiated, Long said.

Allen was hired as town manager in May 2021, with an annual salary of $72,000.

Long directed Selectmen Jim Cyr and Vice Chairman Ernie Souther to find a suitable candidate for acting town manager. The board will meet at 3 p.m. Friday at the Town Office to consider someone for the position.

On Wednesday, Allen sent a text to the Sun Journal with information she received from her attorney that she said was supposed to be confidential.

In that text, she wrote: “The fact that you are on paid administrative leave is not confidential — it is apparent that you are not at the office,” according to her unnamed attorney. “The reason for the leave is confidential. There should be no discussion of the investigation or even that there is an investigation. Employees involved in the investigation should be advised that they are required to keep their parts in the investigation confidential.”

On Dec. 1, Amanda Ricci of Livermore Falls emailed to the Sun Journal a copy of a petition signed by 53 residents. More signatures were collected after that date.

It was unclear if the petition, which had not been certified because signatures had not been verified, was formally submitted to the Select Board and, if so, when.

The five-page petition includes accusations regarding Allen’s lack of leadership, termination of Fire Rescue Department personnel without any formal process, aggressive and intimidating behavior with employees, poor management skills, lack of integrity, failure to take responsibility for her actions, devaluing the experience and knowledge of municipal employees,  and lacking initiative to make positive changes in town government.

In particular, the petition focuses on the volatile relationship between Allen and members of the Fire Rescue Department and the high level of department turnover since she became town manager.

In her petition, Ricci notes that she speaks for a number of unnamed town employees to protect “those speaking up from retaliation, continued harassment and confrontation, and an otherwise hostile environment that will most certainly continue to occur” if these employees were to have signed the petition.

When the petition was filed, Allen told the Sun Journal the allegations were baseless and that she intended to consult with legal counsel regarding a possible lawsuit because the petition “is a malicious attempt to defame me.”

Allen previously told the Sun Journal that Ricci is making personal attacks on her character.

According to the petition, “It is with great regret that I must request that the Board of Selectmen provide Town Manager Amanda Allen with an immediate notice of termination from her position with the Town of Livermore Falls, after a vote of no confidence in her leadership out of concern for the general welfare of the town under her direction and in particular the fire department.”

The town has lost four fire chiefs, including interim chiefs, since June 2021.

• Chief Edward Hastings IV left the department in June 29, 2021, after leading the department since 2016. He returned to being a state fire investigator with the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Deputy Chief Scott Shink took over as interim chief for six months or until a new chief could be hired.

• Jay Fire Rescue Chief Mike Booker was hired as chief in January 2022. He and Shink resigned June 30, 2022. Shink retired. Booker agreed to stay on until a new chief was hired.

• Curt Melcher was appointed interim chief in July but resigned in September.

There has been no chief since. Bobby Cummins is assistant chief.

After Melcher resigned, Allen had the lock changed on the door to the chief’s office at the station and removed records and a laptop containing personnel records. Cummins has not been able to get access since then.

At a previous board meeting, Allen said that because Cummins is personnel, he could not have access to personnel records.

Ricci and other firefighters in the department were dismissed in early 2022, because department officers reviewed the roster and eliminated those who had no or limited response to calls, training sessions or meetings for some time.

Souther, who is on the committee to hire a part-time fire chief, said two people have applied, but the committee wants to do an expanded search and has extended the deadline for applications.

In the meantime, Long said the town has hired fire service consultant Sherman Lahaie to work with the Fire Rescue Department.

Lahaie will look at staffing and other matters, including the state Bureau of Labor Standards report that identifies department deficiencies. The report is confidential, according to the bureau.

Cummins will also be involved in addressing the recommendations in the report.