By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

After being placed on administrative leave in May, South Portland Director of Parks, Recreation and Public Works Dana Anderson returned to work eight days ago. 

“It’s great to be back,” Anderson said on Tuesday. “Everyone has been extremely supportive – the staff and the administration. There were posters and signs – it was a nice welcome back.”

According to a press release from the city, Anderson’s three-month period of paid administrative leave was triggered by a lawsuit settled out of court in April. 

“Anderson settled a civil lawsuit brought against him by the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials (IAABO), [the] civil lawsuit alleged that Mr. Anderson had embezzled funds from that organization. This civil lawsuit did not involve the city or Mr. Anderson’s employment by the city,” the press release reads. “City administration thought it was prudent to place Mr. Anderson on administrative leave so that an outside, independent auditing firm could explore the internal controls of the department under Mr. Anderson’s direction.”

South Portland Finance Director Greg L’Heureux said the city paid South Portland-based accounting firm Macdonald Page & Company $3,000 to conduct a review of Anderson’s different departments. The $3,000 came from the city’s legal budget, an account typically used to pay for corporation counsel salaries, L’Heureux said. 

According to a report from Macdonald Page & Company Director Christian Smith, the investigation revealed no wrongdoing.

“The result of our engagement did not identify any discrepancies for the transactions we examined,” Smith wrote. “Our understanding is that the director’s involvement in the cash receipt process is limited to delivery of the deposit bags to city hall, which in itself is not a regular task that he carries out.”

According to the report, the investigation specifically focused on the handling of cash receipts related to the community center, transfer facility, public golf course and Wainwright Fields, but was more extensive than a review of financial records.

“The work involved interviews with city staff, observations, and examination of relevant documents, and comparisons to best practices in municipal governance. Macdonald Page & Company, LLC identified no discrepancies in the transactions they examined,” according to the press release. “They also discovered no issues that were specific to the Mr. Anderson’s involvement with this process and found that Mr. Anderson’s only involvement in the handling of cash receipts was to deliver the deposit bags to city hall.”

Although Anderson said being required to leave during the investigation initially surprised him, he said he knew what the outcome would be. 

“It needed to go through a process,” he said. “That’s what the powers that be needed to happen, and I never had any apprehension. I’ve been here 31 years and I think I’ve done some good things. You must learn from the past and I’m an individual that deals with the present and the future.”

In addition reviewing the financials of his departments, Anderson’s leave allowed the city time to investigate information included in a confidential letter written by former Community Center Operations Manager Deb Smith, according to an email from City Manager Jim Gailey.

Immediately following her layoff in March, Deb Smith – one of six city employees terminated without notice – said she believed she lost her job based on a disagreement between her and Anderson in November 2008.

In the weeks following her termination, Deb Smith submitted a letter to the city council – the contents of which remain confidential per a state statute that protects “information pertaining to the personal history, general character or conduct of members of an employee’s immediate family” from being public record. Negative public reaction to both the layoffs and the confidentiality of Smith’s letter inspired City Councilor Patti Smith to present a plan in May “asking for better transparency,” calling for the formation of new personnel policies and public involvement requirements. The plan received support from Councilor Jim Soule but not the rest of the council.

Gailey said he could not be specific about the review process triggered by Deb Smith’s letter, except that it was complete. Any necessary action was taken independently of the city council, he said. 

“[The council] hasn’t ever seen it,” Gailey said of Deb Smith’s letter. 

When it comes to resuming his duties, Anderson said he was already “95 percent” back into the swing of things and summed up his biggest challenge in one word: “Resources.”

“The lack of resources and the economic scenario changes everything,” he said. “I think our innovations are going to have huge rewards because we’ve done some consolidation that is really great.”

   Staff Writer Nate Jones may be reached at 282-4337 ext. 233.