Maine fire marshal retiring amid persistent allegations of toxic office culture

AUGUSTA, Maine — After more than a year in the job, Maine’s state fire marshal will retire next month amid persistent allegations of a toxic work culture at his agency.

Richard McCarthy will leave the office Aug. 30 to pursue a job that is “good for him and his family,” Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said in a statement. The outgoing fire marshal has worked in the office since 2001 and finally got the top job last spring.

He assumed that role at a tumultuous time. Four members of the Maine Legislature’s public safety committee voted against him at a February hearing that came just after a Bangor Daily News report documenting years of complaints of distrust between employees and superiors.

Those complaints largely centered on the investigations division. McCarthy previously ran the inspections side of the office. He has not been at the center of complaints, but he acknowledged morale issues last spring and welcomed legislative oversight of the agency’s workings.

The state labor board found in December that the office had violated employees’ union contract. In May, McCarthy told lawmakers that morale was improving. But in the weeks after that, McCarthy was fielding serious complaints from outgoing employees about his two assistants, Greg Day of the inspections division and Troy Gardner of the investigations division.

One former employee said that Day abused overtime and exhibited favoritism toward friends in the agency. A union official representing fire investigators complained to McCarthy in March about Gardner’s “aggressive, unprofessional and threatening” behavior during a labor meeting that McCarthy attended, according to emails obtained by the BDN.

The state posted McCarthy’s job on hiring sites overnight. It comes with a maximum salary of nearly $118,000 depending on experience and qualifications.

McCarthy did not immediately respond to an interview request on Friday morning, but Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the public safety department, credited him for increasing morale by implementing accountability measures, improving communication and reducing the use of overtime by 60 percent.

“I’m honored to have served with Rich and we wish him well in his well-deserved retirement,” Sauschuck said in a statement.

The outgoing fire marshal was honest and hardworking, said Rep. Daniel Newman, R-Belgrade, who sits on the public safety panel. He added that one division of the office “just doesn’t get along with the other,” and the next leader needs to have thick skin and an open mind.

“I think somebody from outside the fire marshal’s office [should lead it],” Newman said. “I think it needs to be somebody new.”

BDN writer Billy Kobin contributed to this report.