NEW GLOUCESTER – Selectmen voted 4-1 Monday night to have Town Manager Sumner Field III contact police to investigate the missing personnel file of former town bookkeeper Sandra Sacco.

They also voted unanimously to have Field purchase a fireproof filing cabinet for personnel files and have only two keys for it.

Both votes came after an executive session.

Selectman Josh McHenry said he was gravely concerned about the missing file, which Sacco asked for Dec. 5 and Field revealed last week was “missing.”

McHenry made a motion that the board go into executive session to place Field on paid administrative leave, effective Tuesday, and appoint town planner Paul First as interim town manager and assume the duties of the post. The motion to enter the session was approved, but no vote was taken afterward to put Field on paid leave.

The controversy over Sacco’s position began Nov. 4 when the board held an executive session and voted 3-2 afterward to cut the full-time bookkeeper’s job to part time with no benefits. Sacco was not informed of the session and therefore did not attend. Voting for the change were Linda Chase, Nathaniel Berry IV and Chairman Steve Libby; voting against were McHenry and Mark Stevens.

The board also voted Nov. 4 to to hire a part-time finance director. The moves were made in anticipation of Field retiring from his town manager’s position on Jan. 2.

Sacco resigned Nov. 25, citing a hostile work environment.

The board in December rescinded the vote and reinstated the job as a full-time position with benefits, and voted not to seek a finance director for six months. The board also ordered the bookkeeper’s position to be advertised.

Sacco, a 25-year town employee, was required to apply for the position because she had resigned. She says she sent an email to Field at 8:01 p.m. on Dec. 26 — the deadline day for applications — expressing her interest in the position, but he sent her a note on Jan. 6 saying her note came in after the deadline, which was the close of business Dec. 26.

The post was filled last week.

Also Monday, the board heard from residents spearheading a petition drive to recall selectmen and appointed Tim Joy, Jean Couturier, Pamela Slye, Lenora Conger and Steve Hathorne to serve on a Recall Ordinance Committee.

Steve Hathorne said he was ordered Friday to leave the Town Hall parking lot when he set up his petition table by his vehicle.

“Sumner came out and told me to leave. He told me there was a form that I had to fill out to sit on town property,” Hathorne told selectmen. “Any citizen with a petition has the right to be on the Town Hall property, according to state law,” he said.

He said he refused to leave the parking lot.

“I understand we have a missing personnel file,” Hathorne said. “Were the police called?”

Field said he got a call from the state Department of Labor in response to Sacco’s request for her file.

“The state called and asked for the file and I said I do not know if it’s a missing file. I searched and have been unable to locate it. It’s missing and I’ve searched and unable to locate it,” Field said.

He said there is no fine but he must notify the state if the file is found.

“I think this is serious,” Hawthorne said. “Her birth date, Social Security (number) and all her identity is missing.”

McHenry asked how long must it be until the file is deemed lost versus missing.

“I’d hate to think it was out of the Town Hall,” he said. “Have we verified other files?”

Field said locks on all Town Hall doors have been changed.

Several residents spoke in support of the board and Field.

Former resident Larry Zuckerman said the tenor of the public’s comments is disappointing.

“There is nothing wrong with asking questions. It’s wrong to imply that someone’s done something wrong,” he said. “I love this town, it’s great to live here, but the tone is what we speak of.”

“Respect is a two-way street,” resident Mary Ann Larsen said.

Beverly Cadigan said she agrees that the tone of questions has been very disappointing.

“They can make statements that are accusatory and wrong,” she said. “I want to thank Sumner for his professionalism. As a town manager, he has put the town’s financial matters back in order.

“We are lucky to have families interested in town government,” Cadigan said. That means selectmen have the unenviable job to move the town forward for the 5,000 residents, not those sitting here pointing fingers.”

It was also learned at Monday’s meeting that Couturier, Cadigan, Katherine Potter and Amy Arata were appointed last month to work with the board on final interviews for a town manager. Their appointments followed an executive session at Pineland Center, where the board interviewed candidates for the job behind closed doors.

Field submitted his resignation in October with an effective date of Jan. 2, 2014. Late last month, the board asked him to stay until Feb. 15 of this year, which he agreed to do.