By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

HARRISON — Matt Frank has been proud to say he lives in the “Friendly Village.”

The Select Board chairman is worried Harrison’s image is headed in a bad direction. Instead of “friendly,” the long-time moniker is moving toward “unfriendly” as the result of personal attacks on social media.

“My definition of a ‘friendly village’ means that we treat each other the way we’d like to be treated ourselves. This is not happening in Harrison right now on social media ... We’ve been known as the friendly village and we’re turning into the unfriendly village due to a small group of people,” Frank said toward the conclusion of last Thursday’s board meeting. “There are attacks going on against town employees and others. These are nasty and personal. They may involve the job they’re doing, it may involve their family life, and it is totally inappropriate in my mind.”

The remarks followed the earlier announcement that Public Services Director Andy Ward had given his resignation.

Town Manager Cass Newell announced the resignation, which is effective Tuesday, July 31.

“Andy is a great asset to this town, in my opinion. We’ll be losing a director that supports four departments. That is a huge void for us to fill,” Newell said. “I want to thank you (Andy) for the time you have spent here with us.”

Ward spoke to The News after the meeting, and explained his decision to resign and return to law enforcement work.

“Some attacks kind of got personal with my family, so I decided to step back and go back into law enforcement and spend more time at home with the kids,” said Ward, who just passed the one-year mark as Harrison’s Public Service Director. “A letter got sent to my family really about some personal issues that happened here in town in the past and that hit home with my family. I’m trying to work through that. So, my wife kind of gave me an ultimatum to be closer to home.”

Ward lives in Buxton.

Ward leaves the job as Harrison builds a new town garage and pressures on the department increasing due to growth and development. Last month, voters turned down a proposal to add an assistant director, to provide Ward with back-up and ease some of the workload of overseeing four departments.

“I have a Public Works Department that’s very understaffed. They’re doing the best they can and everybody’s still filing complaints every day about what we’re not getting done,” Ward said.

A former Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office deputy, Ward is weighing various police officer openings.

“There are definitely doors open,” he said.

Ward has agreed to stay on to help with the transition of a new Public Services director.

“I’ll help bring that person up to speed as to what I’ve got going on and get them started,” Ward added.

When asked if there was an experience he could use in the future or a lesson learned during his time in Harrison, Ward responded, “Yup, keep your personal life away from work.”

Call for decency

With the start of a new fiscal year and a new Select Board in place (with the election of new member Nathan Sessions), Frank said as part of a clean slate, he encouraged people to tone down the negative rhetoric appearing on social media.

“I respectfully ask people who are going on to social media to stop it. There is no need for this. As a direct result of this, Andy is leaving us. He’s been an excellent employee. Some people out there may think that this is a victory for them. Truth of the matter, it is a loss for the town because he’s an excellent employee,” Frank said.

Frank pointed to neighboring Naples, which lost its town manager, partly due to negativity in the community.

“This is hurtful and it’s harmful. I really like it to stop now for those who are doing it. I have an alternative that I believe will be more effective for getting to their objectives. I’d like them to stop this stuff on social media and instead call the town office and set up a meeting with Cass (Newell, the town manager). Look her in the eye and tell her what your issues are and they can be discussed,” Frank continued. “If you want me there or the vice chairman there, we’ll be happy to join you. If the issue is with a particular department head, we’ll arrange that. You can meet with them one-on-one and talk about your issues. But this stuff on social media has to stop. Please be good citizens, thank you.”

Newly-elected Select Board vice chairman Phil Devlin echoed Frank’s sentiment, encouraging citizens to bring their concerns or complaints to the town manager or the Select Board.

“Personal attacks are just not a productive path and it just is a detriment to the town’s reputation,” Devlin said.

The Select Board voted unanimously in support of Frank’s appeal.

“Hopefully at the next meeting, I’ll be able to report that some of these folks have come in and spoken to us face-to-face, looked us in the eye and said what their issues are? If they have a good idea, we may adopt it. But that’s the best way to communicate with each other,” Frank said.