The Winslow Town Office, off Benton Avenue, is seen on Saturday morning. Dylan Tusinski/Morning Sentinel

WINSLOW — Councilor-elect Doris Labranche is threatening residents with legal action over posts to community social media pages just days after winning election to the Town Council.

Doris Labranche Courtesy photo

Two days after Labranche was elected to the District 4 Council seat, Town Manager Ella Bowman announced her resignation due to “hateful” rhetoric from councilors and social media agitators. Bowman is among the only openly transgender town managers in the nation.

Dozens of residents subsequently left comments in community social media pages supporting Bowman and lamenting the environment that prompted her departure.

One resident, Mackenzie O’Ben, specifically called out “disgusting” anti-transgender rhetoric from Labranche, some sitting councilors and residents on social media.

Screenshot from Facebook.com

“The majority of people who caused all of this strife now have a majority on the town council with the addition of Doris Labranche, who has made many negative comments about transgender people on her personal Facebook page and in (Councilor) Fran (Hudson)’s group,” O’Ben wrote, referring to the What’s Happening in Winslow, Maine? Facebook group moderated by Councilor Fran Hudson, where Labranche did much of her campaigning.

Labranche responded by leaving a cease and desist order in the comments, demanding O’Ben delete her post and refrain from making “any future false or defamatory statements.”

“Your statements are not only untrue, but they also cause significant harm to my reputation, both personally and professionally,” Labranche wrote. “Continued false statements not only harm my reputation but also mislead the public.”

O’Ben succinctly replied “No,” and posted roughly a half-dozen screenshots of anti-transgender remarks and posts shared by Labranche to her social media accounts.

One screenshot of a post reading “I won’t use someone’s pronouns for the same reason I won’t talk to a schizophrenic’s imaginary friends” showed Labranche commenting “Never thought of it that way!”

Screenshot from Facebook.com

In one post, Labranche responded to a post seeking a female roommate to rent an apartment with a comment reading “Define female, lol!”

“Since Joe Biden picked a woman as Vice President, then Kamala needs to be able to define what a woman is right?” Labranche wrote in another post. “I look forward to her explanation!”

Labranche also shared a video of Fred Rogers singing the song “Everybody’s Fancy” with a caption reading “for my neighbors on the left.”

“Boys are boys from the beginning. Girls are girls right from the start,” Rogers sings in the clip. “Only girls can be the mommies. Only boys can be the daddies.”

Another post showed Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, who won gold despite false claims that she is transgender, beside a photoshopped image of Mike Tyson wearing a wig.

“His opponent for the next round… Tammy Tyson from the United States,” the post read, falsely referring to Khelif as male.

Screenshot from Facebook.com

Labranche said in the comments that her posts were taken out of context, but did not respond to a reporter’s request to provide that context.

She deleted her cease and desist demand hours after posting it.

“Social media can sometimes lead to misunderstandings, and I’m sure many of us have experienced this,” Labranche commented. “To those who know me personally, you know my heart and my values.”

“Hateful” rhetoric both in the town office and on social media were cited by Bowman as the main factors in her resignation in a letter issued Wednesday night.

Her letter alleged that certain councilors and residents have began a “smear campaign” against her, galvanizing “hateful social media posts” to make her job as difficult as possible to do.

“I’ve accumulated several very powerful and eye-opening written statements to this effect,” Bowman wrote, though she has not yet made any of those statements public.

Screenshot from Facebook.com

In light of Bowman’s resignation, “all posts and comments regarding the current troubling political situation” were banned in the What’s Happening in Winslow, Maine? Facebook group.

Bowman resigned after just over a year on the job as Winslow’s head administrator, overseeing a tumultuous period in town politics.

Just a month after Bowman was hired, three of Winslow’s seven councilors were ousted by political newcomers who largely organized their campaigns through community social media pages.

In the months since, a widening divide has formed between the council’s old and new guard, as the new councilors have sought protective orders against Bowman, voted down the school budget for the first time in town history and potentially violated transparency laws by requesting medical information about another councilor recovering from a coma.

In September, Bowman’s home address was publicly shared to several Winslow community social media groups. Hours later, her house was vandalized.

Winslow Town Manager Ella Bowman, above, stands in her office at the Winslow Town Office on Oct. 29. Bowman is resigning from the job, citing “hateful” rhetoric from some councilors and constituents. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file

“Winslow’s department heads have had to work in a political environment like none of us have ever experienced before,” Bowman’s resignation letter read.

Her resignation will take effect on Feb. 5, 2025, although the Town Council can vote to waive the 90-day notice requirement in her contract if members want Bowman to depart sooner.

Bowman was previously the town manager in nearby Oakland for nearly a decade, but was placed on administrative leave without an explanation by Oakland’s Town Council in August 2023, prompting questions and protest from residents.

She would formally resign her post in Oakland a week later, citing what she described as transphobia among town employees as the reason for her departure.

Note: This story was updated to include additional screenshots of Labranche’s social media comments.