MINOT – Former road commissioner Chuck Starbird claims that he sued the town of Minot because he wanted an apology, not money.

He got both.

Starbird’s lawyer, Anthony Ferguson, announced this week that the town has settled a lawsuit in which Starbird accused the Minot Board of Selectmen of making false statements that damaged his reputation.

As part of the settlement, Ferguson said, Starbird received $2,500 and a letter of apology from the chairman of the Board of Selectmen.

Starbird, who served as road commissioner in Minot from June 1998 to September 1999, claimed in his lawsuit that he suffered embarrassment and damage to his construction business as a result of false accusations that he tried to duck out of paying sales tax by using the town’s commercial account to buy items for his personal use.

The suit referred to a letter that selectmen sent to the Sales Tax Division of the Maine Revenue Service. The letter suggests that Starbird may have used the town’s account to buy a road sander and other items for his own use.

“The Board felt strongly and unanimously that it was incumbent upon them to report these circumstances to your division,” the Oct. 18 letter stated. “We presume that the state will want to follow up with Mr. Starbird to investigate whether ultimately he has paid the sale tax associated with the purchase of these items.”

After the director of the Sales Tax Division cleared Starbird of any wrongdoing, confirming that he had paid all of the appropriate sales taxes, Starbird expected a public apology from the board.

He filed his lawsuit after he realized that he wasn’t going to get one.

“All I ever wanted was an apology,” Starbird said. “When the town would not apologize to me, I felt that I needed to file suit. If you don’t stand up for yourself, no one else will.”

In the apology Starbird received as part of the settlement, Chairman George “Buster” Downing wrote, “The Board of Selectmen did not intend to accuse Starbird of illegal or otherwise dishonest conduct.”

The settlement came about a year after Starbird took the town to court on an unrelated issue.

In that lawsuit, Starbird sued town officials for $15,842 in unpaid wages. Starbird asked for the money after he resigned, but the selectmen refused to pay his bill. They claimed that he didn’t have sufficient documentation for the work and that some of the charges, such as billing the town for attending 79 selectmen meetings over his three-year tenure, were unwarranted.

The case went to trial last year in 8th District Court, and a judge ordered the town to pay $2,324 to Starbird.



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