AUBURN – A firebrand city councilor has asked the state Attorney General’s Office to investigate what he terms abuse-of-power allegations against City Manager Pat Finnigan.

In his complaint filed Wednesday with the AG’s office, Councilor Bob Mennealy also accused Finnigan of coercion and financial misconduct.

Mennealy alleged that the city manager has verbally abused her staff for giving him public information. He also blames increases in taxes and service cuts on fiscal mismanagement.

“My aim is for her to do her job – and just her job,” Mennealy said in an interview. “I don’t believe it’s right that she overstep her bounds, and that’s what she’s done on several occasions.”

Finnigan said Thursday that she was not aware of the complaint and declined to comment on it until she had read it.

“I won’t, until I see it in writing, preferably from the city councilor,” Finnigan said. “If not, I would have appreciated the courtesy of some notice that he planned to do this.”

Mayor Norm Guay called Mennealy’s allegations baseless and inappropriate and criticized him for making them public without first discussing them with the City Council.

“They should have been brought to us first, but they were not,” Guay said.

“He is an elected official and the proper forum for this is the public forum. He can say what he wants, but he cannot take it on himself. This needs to be done in an open City Council session.”

Guay said he has complete confidence in Finnigan and her staff.

“As far as I’m concerned, this is baseless,” Guay said. “I have full faith in Pat Finnigan, full faith in her honesty and I feel she is an asset to the city.”

The request for the investigation was prompted by Finnigan’s past policy of forgiving property taxes for the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, Mennealy said.

The city has assessed property taxes on the organization’s 125 Manley Road office since 1996, but has regularly not collected the taxes.

“That was her decision to forgive those taxes,” Mennealy said. “I don’t believe she had the authority to make that decision. What would those taxes be worth going back to 1996?”

In August, a new legal opinion from city lawyers led Finnigan to change the policy. Now assessors are seeking to collect more than $25,000 in AVCOG property taxes for fiscal 2003.

Mennealy also alleged that Finnigan has forbidden city employees to talk directly with councilors.

“They have been told not to respond directly to council questions,” Mennealy said. “Instead, they have to filter their answers through her office.”

Finnigan confirmed that that is her policy.

“In fact, most city managers have that same policy,” Finnigan said. “It’s a way to ensure that councilors get the answers they want quickly and accurately.”

But Mennealy said it stops employees from saying anything that might be critical of the city manager.

“According to other employees, it’s never been done that way,” Mennealy said. “It’s a way of managing information. Employees are scared of her and they are afraid for their jobs. So what are they going to say?”

Mennealy said he also disagrees with Finnigan’s decision to hire a law firm to investigate the Auburn Police Department in the wake of Mayor Norm Guay’s Aug. 4 drunken-driving arrest. According to the police report, Guay’s blood-alcohol level was one-eighth of the state minimum for OUI. The AG’s office has decided not to press charges.

Finnigan initiated an investigation on Aug. 11, hiring Portland law firm McCloskey, Mina and Cunniff to determine whether police acted correctly.

“I can’t believe that she had the authority to make that decision on her own,” Mennealy said.

Jessica Maurer, special assistant attorney general, couldn’t confirm whether Mennealy’s complaint was being investigated.

“It may take time for us to make sure it gets to the right person,” Maurer said. She added that the AG’s office does not comment on complaints while they are being evaluated.

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