The State Inspector General has issued a report criticizing Municipal Maintenance Director Mark Gifford for acting improperly in allowing a contractor to overcharge the town $39,000, and for making inappropriate and imprudent decisions that led to  "creating a reasonable suspicion among employees" of impropriety.

A receptionist at Municipal Maintenance said on Friday that Gifford could not comment and that all questions were to be directed to Town Administrator Mark Andrews.

When asked to comment about the matter after Town Meeting on Monday night, Andrews said he could not talk about a personnel matter but that he "has the matter under review" and "was gathering more information and will ask questions" before making any decisions about any disciplinary action.

In its letter dated October 13 to Board of Selectmen Chair Jane Donahue, the Inspector General concluded an investigation of the Municipal Maintenance Department requested by the Board of Selectmen in January 2009 following the Board's receiving an anonymous letter alleging wrongdoing by Gifford.

The report lists several allegations, each of which it investigated, and criticizes Gifford in three main areas:

1. He allowed a private contractor, T.L. Edwards, to bill the town for work performed at a higher rate than was authorized in its contract with the town, resulting in an overcharge of $39,000.
2. He directed Municipal Maintenance Department employees to perform work that should have been performed by a contractor, thus undermining the integrity of the vendor's contract with the town.
3. He improperly disposed of scrap metal and wood stored on Municipal Maintenance Department property without establishing the value of the material and without following formal disposal procedures, thus creating the appearance of impropriety.   .

In the report, Gifford defended his decisions.  He claimed he received authorization to pay the contractor at the higher rate, and that his actions concerning the use of town employees and the disposal of scrap material saved money for the town.  According to statements in the report by Gifford, confirmed by the Inspector General's own investigation, the private contractor did not bill the town for any of the services done by town employees, which were done a lower cost than if they were performed by the contractor.  Gifford also contended that he believed the method used to dispose of the scrap material saved the town the cost of a more formal disposal process.

The Inspector General recommended that the town review the possibility with its legal counsel of recovering the $39,000 in overpayment from the contractor.  It also recommended that the town be more diligent in adhering to the terms of its contracts with vendors, stating that actions such as those taken by at the Municipal Maintenance Department "can alter the level playing field that all bidders thought they were bidding on."

The relationship between Mark Gifford and some members of the Board of Selectmen has been tenuous in the recent past.  In 2009, then-Selectman John Cronan called Gifford and former Water Pollution Control Facility manager David Simmons "two of the biggest rats in town," and sought assurances that their computers would be included in an audit of town computers the Selectmen authorized while employees were on a mandatory furlough day. Gifford's wife, Susan Williams Gifford, currently is running for a fourth term representing the 2nd Plymouth District. She previously defeated former Town Moderator John Donahue, current Selectman Jane Donahue's husband, when he sought the state rep's job.