SKOWHEGAN — Somerset Country commissioners ruled Wednesday that Diane Godin, the county registrar of deeds, will work just one day a month at a considerable reduction in salary and without benefits.
The decision came following complaints lodged against Godin and a fracas at the courthouse Dec. 4 when Godin was ordered to leave the building.
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Godin, who said in an email Wednesday that she has an attorney, can appeal the ruling.
The commission vote was 5-0, taken after an executive session from which the news media and the public were barred while Godin’s status was discussed with Patricia Dunn, an attorney hired by the commissioners.
The decision is effective immediately. Godin, 52, will work one eight-hour day per month for a paid stipend of $5,000 annually with payments made after she completes her work each month. As elected registrar, Godin is responsible for signing and certifying financial reports on real estate transfers for the Maine Revenue Service and the Board of Commissioners.
She is to report for work from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month with an hour off for lunch.
Last year, Godin was paid $40,800 plus benefits for a total package of $56,029. She was re-elected to the post in November, defeating Deputy Registrar Laura Price.
Commissioner Phil Roy, of Fairfield, said county commissioners have the power under state law to make decisions about employees and elected officials alike.
“We set the working hours, we set their pay by statute — all the employees, appointed and elected,” Roy said.
Commission Chairman Robert Dunphy, of Anson, said the settlement with Godin is fair and equitable, but added that the matter might not be over. It could end up in court, he said.
“If she’s got a lawyer, we can’t even talk about it because we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future,” Dunphy said.
Godin was not present for the settlement discussion Wednesday, nor was her attorney, whom she would not name in emails Wednesday. She would not comment further on the situation.
Patricia Dunn, a lawyer with the Portland law firm Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry, who represents the county in the Godin matter, said she could not comment on details of what led up to the meeting because it is a personnel matter.
“Commissioners have the right to set up compensation, and that’s what they decided to do,” Dunn said.
County Administrator Dawn DiBlasi said she could not discuss details of the settlement either, other than to say Godin did not show up for an announced Dec. 3 meeting with the commissioners about her performance, prompting an argument with DiBlasi the following day when Godin locked herself in her office after being told to leave.
“I think that she didn’t really want to be here today because she didn’t really want to deal with the issues at hand,” DiBlasi said. “Every year she negotiates her contract, and every December her contract gets negotiated. She didn’t show up in December, so we reset it for the second meeting of the month — today.
“We were hoping that she was going to come so we all could have some closure,” DiBlasi said. “We’re disappointed that she isn’t here, but the commission still has the duty to act, and they’ve done that with this motion.”
DiBlasi said she couldn’t discuss complaints against Godin, claiming that it is a personnel matter protected by Maine law.
Former Commissioner Robin Frost, of Palmyra, said in late December that commissioners received complaints about Godin’s behavior from lawyers using the registry for their work, from county employees and from members of the public using the registry for research. The department is responsible for recording and keeping track of papers that show evidence of land ownership, mortgages and liens on real estate and other property.
Godin, while on unpaid leave from the county, prompted a police response Dec. 4 after locking herself in her office and refusing to come out after county officials had barred her from the building.
Somerset County officials considered filing a criminal trespass complaint against Godin in connection with the Dec. 4 incident, but they decided not to do so when she was talked out of the office by the Skowhegan police chief and agreed to leave the county courthouse building. The county changed all of its door locks after the incident.
Former Commissioner Frost, who was defeated by Dean Cray in the November election, said Godin exceeded the number of vacation and sick days allowed in her contract, resulting in her “being slightly overpaid.”
“She was actually not just not fulfilling her responsibilities; she was actually breaking HR laws by being impossible, derogatory. … There were many, many complaints from the general public about her behavior,” Frost said.
Doug Harlow — 612-2367
Twitter: @Doug_Harlow
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