The Oakland Town Council accepted the resignation of its town manager at an emergency meeting on Tuesday and denied that her departure and prior suspension had anything to do with her being transgender, the Morning Sentinel reported.
The council placed Ella Bowman on administrative leave without explanation in August. In her resignation letter, Bowman said that that through a town investigation she learned that “six of the people who have struggled with my transition the most” had filed complaints against her.
Bowman has since been hired by the town of Winslow to serve as town manager, the Sentinel reported.
Town officials have not explained why Bowman was placed on leave in August. But in a statement released Tuesday, councilors said Bowman’s resignation letter included “false allegations of improper motives” for the investigation that followed her suspension: “The Town Council expressly denies that any action took with regard to Ms. Bowman at any time during her employment had anything to do with anti-transgender bias, or with Ms. Bowman’s journey.”
Bowman, 63, has described herself as the only “out” transgender town manager in the country. She was town manager for nine years. For the previous 15 years, she was a police officer for the town of Oakland and was named officer of the year in 2003 and 2010. Earlier this year she was named municipal employee of the year by the Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce.
She told the Morning Sentinel she had never previously been written up during her employment or had any disciplinary issues.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Sentinel reported, councilors appointed Kelly Pinney-Michaud, the town’s human resources and finance director, as interim town manager.
