Cole's pay docked after timeslips seen in error

Selectman Cole's timeslip of Oct. 26 showing the hours he put down, and those docked by the board.

LEBANON - Prior to his sudden resignation on Tuesday, Jason Cole had come under increased scrutiny this fall on timeslips submitted for his selectman’s pay, leading to several instances in which his pay was docked for what selectmen indicated as inaccurate reporting of hours worked.

Using a Freedom of Access Request, The Lebanon Voice recently obtained several weekly timeslips that were submitted by Cole during the months of October and November.

In the timeslips, Selectmen Chair Karen Gerrish and Selectman Ben Thompson are shown to have docked Cole for several hours of work he had put down, most of them based on hours Cole represented as having been at Town Hall which were not backed up by door code entries recorded upon entry or exit from the Town Offices on Upper Guinea Road, Selectman Ben Thompson said.

Meanwhile, on copies of the seven timeslips obtained by The Lebanon Voice, Cole submitted hours based on attendance at a selectmen’s meeting just once. Most of the other hours submitted for pay were based on “reviewing mail and emails,” and “reviewing policies.”

Oct. 17 entry on weekly timeslip denotes where an hour was docked after no verification of Selectman Cole's presence at Town Hall could be found.

Most of the “reviewing policies” entries did not note which policies were being reviewed.

Most of the “emails reviewed” failed to elicit a response that was cc’d to other selectmen as is customary, Thompson said.

“As far as we can see, there was no response (from Cole) to the emails he was reviewing,” Thompson said on Tuesday.

Most of the pay was docked in cases where door codes at Town Hall verified Cole hadn’t been working as long as the codes indicated, or not at all.

On Oct. 17, for instance, Cole said he was at the office between 4 and 5. Scribbled in “red” near the entry, a note reads, “AM, no door code, PM, KG (Karen Gerrish), BT (Ben Thompson) in office.”

On other timeslips selectmen note the pay was OK’d “With Reservations.” In explanation of their comments it is noted that Cole was at no meetings and had no conversations with other selectmen and yet had more hours worked than Gerrish.

Thompson said Cole OK’d the adjustments made to his timeslips without argument.