Rockport Select Board votes 5-0 to fire Chief James Doyle immediately

ROCKPORT — February 3, 2021 — Rockport's Select Board voted unanimously Wednesday to remove Fire Chief James Doyle, ending his more than 25 years on the Board of Fire Engineers. The 5-0 vote, taken before more than 600 viewers on Zoom, followed a multi-hour special meeting in which Town Counsel Darren Klein of KP Law outlined charges of neglect of duty and financial mismanagement, including Doyle's failure to maintain records of fire inspection fees and his mailing — rather than emailing — of fire academy applications for six firefighters, costing the town $7,000 in physicals for candidates who were never admitted. Doyle's attorney, Liam O'Connell, argued the charges did not constitute the misconduct required under a 2019 last-chance agreement, that the town had illegally disbanded its personnel board, and that a COVID-19 inspection shutdown explained a fiscal year 2020 revenue shortfall the town had characterized as troubling. All five selectmen read prepared statements before the vote; Selectman Paul Murphy called it "the most arduous vote in my career in elective public service." The removal took effect immediately under the board's authority in the town charter, Chapter 242 of the Acts of 1959.