Rescue's legal costs uncovered

Town Attorney Alan Shepard's Rescue bill since October: more than $6,000. Below, images of some of the invoices. (Lebanon Voice file photo)

In response to a Right to Know law request from The Lebanon Voice, town officials have turned over detailed notes pertaining to money paid to town attorney Alan Shepard over the course of the probe into alleged grievances against the Rescue Department and its leaders, Rescue Chief Samantha Cole and her husband, Assistant Rescue Chief and Selectman Jason Cole.

The requests were for detailed entries on hours spent and associated invoices payable by the town to Shepard’s Kennebunk law firm, Shepard and Read.

Even though a segment in the Right to Know law allows municipal officials to provide no context for the documents they surrender under the Freedom of Access Act, the amounts paid and nearby annotations give voters a glimpse into the huge amounts of taxpayer money being paid Shepard solely on Rescue Department issues.

Between Oct. 9 when Shepard had a teleconference with Selectwoman Karen Gerrish at the outset of the probe and Oct. 29 when the bulk of investigative work is thought to have been completed, Shepard billed the town $4,408. In all from Oct. 9-March 29, Shepard billed the town $5,547.50 in charges in which Rescue was noted. 

Since the FOAA act does not compel officials to give context to the documents surrendered, just the raw data, it’s possible some of the entries may not have been Rescue probe related. However, many of the entries would seem to suggest that they were.

Gerrish on Tuesday confirmed that two teleconferences with Shepard on successive days at the start of the probe were related to the investigation, but Selectmen Chairman Robert Frizzell, who led the probe, refused to disclose which items reflected his participation in the investigation.

“That’s all the lawyer (Shepard) said we had to give you,” he said on Tuesday.

Pressed on the matter, Frizzell said he might take a look at a copy of the charges and disclose more at a later date, but he made no promises and gave no timeframe if he were to comply with the request.

Multiple invoice entries in October, however, reference “rescue” or “Jason” or “witnesses.”

One, on Oct. 17, is likely the day Shepard billed the town for taking the statements at his Kennebunk law office of five former Rescue volunteers who filed grievances over alleged shoddy practices and leadership at the department. Shepard’s entry for fees that day reads, “Review of documents .5 (hours); interviews at office.” Shepard’s fee that day for 3 3/4 hours of work was “$656.25” at his normal charge of $175 an hour.

The charge for $656.25 was not included in the total charges summarized above, because "Rescue" was not specifically mentioned in that entry.

Another entry on Oct. 23 reads: “Interview with witness: teleconference with Jason; review of documents; preparation of summary.” The town was billed that day for three hours for $525.

The next day, Oct. 24, an invoice entry reads: “Rescue, teleconference with witness, teleconference with Jason; review of documents; emails.” The cost that day: $393.75.

Shepard’s invoice for November was considerably less, $1,750, but four of nine line items for services rendered the town mentioned Rescue for a total of $1,128.75. One of those, an item posted on Nov. 13 reads: “Rescue-review of documents; emails .5 (hours); rescue lawsuit-review of documents; court filings.”

In December Shepard billed the town just $875.50, with just one Rescue item for $43.75

No invoices regarding Rescue were filed by Shepard in January or February, records show, but in March, the month in which Frizzell rendered his decision absolving the Coles and the Rescue Department of any misdoings, Shepard’s invoices in which Rescue is mentioned totaled $1,706.25.

A flurry of charges by Shepard between March 26 and March 29 include:

March 26: “teleconference with Bob; emails; review of documents/Rescue1.25 (hours); review of documents; emails” for $393.75.

March 27: “Review of documents; draft of memo/Rescue 1.0 (hours); research; redraft of letter/.75 (hours)” for $306.25.

March 28: “review of documents; emails; Rescue 3.25 (hours) Selectmen’s meeting; preparation of letter; research 1.25 (hours)" for $787.50.

March 29: “Review of documents; teleconference with Bob; subdivision; review of documents; emails; rescue” for $218.75.

Frizzell’s final ruling on the Rescue probe was issued on March 29.

Gerrish recused herself from participating in the probe on advice of Shepard, who felt her voice would've been compromised after her bitter campaign battle against Cole for the selectmen's seat two years ago.

Interestingly, the flurry of legal activity in late March began the same day The Lebanon Voice broke the story that a five-months-long Rescue probe was under way and just three days before it was completed.