HOULTON – In a tense meeting Monday evening, town councilors debated whether to discipline Town Manager Peggy Daigle for her handling of an anonymous letter that one councilor said contained “defamatory” statements about him.

Councilors voted 4-2 against the measure, with the majority of councilors saying Daigle was following “precedent” by having the letter copied for other councilors.

Residents rallied in support of Councilor Gerald Adams, who was the subject of the unsigned letter that was received at the town office on May 14. Many took to the podium to praise Adams, and some requested that Daigle apologize to the councilor.

Daigle refused.

“This letter was sent to me, to Chairman Dale Flewelling and to the Bangor Daily News,” Daigle said at the meeting. “Given that, it was even more imperative that our entire council get a copy of it.”

The NEWS did not print the letter. Letters without a signature, full name, address and telephone number are not published.

The one-page letter questioned Adams’ character, reputation and regard as a councilor, athletic coach and businessman.

At the last meeting, Adams read the letter and offered a rebuttal to the accusations, which he said were “lies.” Adams criticized Daigle for having the letter copied for other councilors. Councilor Phil Bernaiche saw the letter when he went to the town office to pick up his mail and alerted Adams to it. Adams said that when he went to the office to get his copy, the letters were being removed from the files.

Daigle has denied any wrongdoing, saying she does not “censor the mail” for other councilors.

As a result of Daigle’s actions, Adams asked the council to “go on record to sanction and reprimand” the town manager.

“It is upsetting that a person in the position of town manager took it upon herself to distribute such garbage to someone else,” Betty Ann Childers, a Houlton resident, told the council. “We need a public apology from the town manager.”

Former councilor and lawyer Mike Carpenter said at the meeting that the council should have a written policy about how to deal with anonymous letters. There are no guidelines now.

“Would someone just enunciate for the record what the policy will be,” Carpenter said, “So that when I write my anonymous letter, disparaging a candidate up for re-election, I will know who will get it?”

In a prepared statement, Flewelling said Daigle would have committed a crime if she had concealed the letter. Flewelling said that any document, signed or unsigned, delivered to the town becomes a public record and remains so for a minimum of a year.

Councilor Paul Cleary said he felt there was “no need for an apology” and that Adams made the letter public when he read it aloud at the last meeting. Adams maintained that the letter was public the minute it came into the town office.

“I would have been devastated if I read something like that about myself in the newspaper,” Houlton resident Galen Wilde told councilors. “I think [Adams] got a bad rap.”

“There was already a precedent set for letters that came into the town office,” Councilor Kent Good said. “There was no malicious intent toward [Adams].”

“I thought I was being a professional by asking for an apology and a letter of reprimand,” Adams told councilors. “I don’t think that is too big.”