SANFORD — A city councilor who said he was writing as a concerned parent and youth sports volunteer had harsh words for the city’s longtime Parks and Recreation Department director in a posting that appeared briefly on social media on Saturday morning.

Councilor Lucas Lanigan said he removed the Facebook posting after it began to draw comments. He said he didn’t want his post, which expressed his frustration with Parks and Recreation Director Marcel Blouin over marking the lacrosse fields, to turn it into a “bash fest.”

In a telephone interview on Monday, Lanigan, who was elected to the Sanford City Council in November 2015 and took office Jan. 1, 2016, said he respects Blouin.

“I have high respect for Marcel in the job that he does,” Lanigan said, in part, in the telephone interview. “He’s a very competent man, he cares about the city and loves the city.”

On Saturday morning, Lanigan expressed his feelings in a different way on two, citizen-administered Facebook pages.

“Good Morning Sanford. I am writing this to inform everyone of the incompetence and dishonesty of the Director of Parks and Rec,” Lanigan wrote in part on Saturday morning. “For the second year in a row he has committed to painting the lacrosse fields for the 100 plus families that are involved in our community. Both times a few days before he has denied offering his help. Either he is incompetent himself or does not care anymore about youth and only his pocketbook. … I am tired of our city wasting money on an overpriced salary for someone who lies to his customers.”

Lanigan urged people to contact City Manager Steven Buck at City Hall “to demand change for our community.”

The post was visible for about an hour or less, but its presence raises questions about whether an elected official can ever fully remove the mantel of elected office and voice their opinion purely as a citizen — in this case, speaking negatively about a city employee.

During Monday’s interview, Lanigan said he was frustrated and emotional when he made the posting.

“I feel voicing this concern is a lot larger than myself and I am willing to (deal with) the consequences,” Lanigan said. “It probably wasn’t a well-written piece. I wrote that being an emotional parent and volunteer coach. Definitely other words could have been used.”

Sanford Mayor Tom Cote said the remarks by Lanigan do not reflect the views of the City Council and leadership within City Hall.

“The comments on Facebook appear to violate the Code of Conduct every city councilor signs, and this will be addressed with Councilor Lanigan and the City Council,” Cote said in an email to the Journal Tribune.

“Councilor Lanigan is involved with many activities throughout our community and it appears he tried to limit his statements to reflect his involvement specifically with youth sports,” Cote wrote. “In reality, elected officials are held to a higher standard and do not have the freedom to simply remove themselves from their elected official role based on the situation at hand. The statement was unfortunate and uncalled-for and certainly not an appropriate way to treat a city employee or handle city operations.”

Blouin, for his part, said he saw the Facebook posting.

“I have no comment at all,” Blouin said about the remarks directed at him.

The City Council Code of Conduct is signed by individual councilors at the beginning of the year. Among its 14 tenets are ones that spell out that city councilors will always address each other, citizens, city employees and city committee members with respect and will refrain from making accusatory or disparaging remarks about them. As well, it spells out that a councilor will not criticize employees publicly but will take the criticisms to the city manager, who will investigate and take action, if necessary.

On Monday, Lanigan said he had not brought up his frustrations with the parks and recreation director in his role as a city councilor. He said he originally made the posting because he wanted other parents to know he was listening as a parent, coach and volunteer.

He said he hopes the city’s Parks and Recreation Department and the entities that provide youth sports will forge a better relationship than what currently exists.

He said maybe he needs to understand that as an elected official he can’t remove that “hat,” and speak only as a parent or coach.

“This will be a huge lesson for me,” Lanigan said.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.​