Executive Session Scheduled for Thursday

Carrie Jones

Dec 10, 2025

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Choco-Latté Café.

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SOUTHWEST HARBOR—In a month marked by loss and uncertainty, Southwest Harbor staff are mourning the death of Code Enforcement Officer John Larson even as they wrestle with a mounting workload and concerns about the credentials of the interim officer brought in to help.

Town Manager Karen Reddersen took a moment near the beginning of the Southwest Harbor Select Board meeting, December 9, to memorialize Larson, who died last Wednesday.

“This has been challenging for our administrative team. He was one of us. It’s very difficult to put away maps, identify pending workload, and related documents, including emptying his puppy’s water bowl,” Reddersen said quietly as she sat at the desk with the select board members. “I share this to present the human side of the situation so that John could be remembered.”

“I also would like to express my sincere sympathies to John’s family and support to the town office as well,” selectboard member Natasha Johnson said.

“This has been incredibly tough on John’s family and our administrative staff,” Chair Noah Burby said.

Larson had a long history on the island as a code enforcement officer and was hired as a part-time code enforcement officer in 2016 in Tremont. He was also the part-time code enforcement officer (CEO) in Hancock, Surry, Stockton Springs, and Veazie at the time of his hire and split his time between the towns. He resigned from his Tremont duties in 2020 and focused on Southwest Harbor, where he also eventually worked. Then, he returned to Tremont, and resigned again from that town with an end date of 2025.

While the staff mourns one of their own, they also have to replace the town’s long-time code enforcement officer who had resigned for health reasons and initially meant to work through December, then had to go on medical leave.

No one anticipates leaving a desk, Reddersen said.

“Code enforcement work is important to the movement forward of the town. We currently have 14 pending permits in various states, some of which are told to come in and get a signed permit. One contractor told me he would have to let go of his 20-person crew if he wouldn’t get this permit, that the situation was imminent. Others shared that it was impacting their ability to do business. We also have an additional 15 pending inquiries and parties wanting a discussion with code enforcement,” Reddersen said.

The town is currently interviewing candidates for a permanent position. Reddersen has had a difficult time trying to find an interim CEO to support the community, she said.

“I’ve reached out to numerous town and city managers, state fire marshal’s office, people listed on the state fire marshal’s website, the planning commission, various other leads, seeking an interim CEO. I was told either those options did not have the capacity to take on additional workload or they were unable to fulfill this role,” she said.

The Town of Lamoine gave Reddersen the name of its CEO, Rebecca Albright and did not reference concerns about her and said she was qualified. Reddersen appointed Albright as an independent contractor to perform CEO duties on December 3 and she has been a CEO for Otis since 2022, Great Pond since 1997, and Waltham from 2013. She’s served in Lamoine since 2017.

However, concerns have been raised about her status as a code enforcement officer.

Those concerns stem from a complaint by ten residents of Lamoine, led by Terry Towne and Diana McDowell, against Albright that she did not perform her duty according to state standards. Reddersen has since contacted the state fire marshal’s office to confirm (or not) whether Albright is a code enforcement officer in good standing.

She has not heard back.

“With the questions raised and sent to the fire marshal’s office, I wouldn’t be comfortable confirming her until I heard whether that investigation is going forward or the results of that investigation,” select board member Dan Norwood said.

The Town of Lamoine has already advertised for a new code enforcement officer. The Quietside Journal’s Lincoln Millstein uploaded an April letter from the state fire marshal’s office about a complaint against Albright and initially reported on Larson’s death as well as the investigation about Albright. An earlier lawsuit by Towne, who had complained to the fire marshal this year, a lawsuit against Albright, had been dismissed in 2024.

“Allowing private individuals to decertify code enforcement officers would erode the insulated nature of the position, and thereby allow any individual with a gripe with a code enforcement, or other certified municipal employee, to turn to the courts to strip officers of their certifications,” the Ellsworth American’s Cyndi Wood wrote of that earlier court decision.

The complaint had been led by Terry Towne.

Wood wrote, “Towne is a former Lamoine assessor and Mount Desert code enforcement officer. His complaint alleged Albright erred in issuing permits under local setback requirements and other standards and that she performed an insufficient number of plumbing inspections.”

Ms. Albright had been sworn in by Reddersen and is acting as an interim CEO for Southwest Harbor since earlier this month. The board decided against confirming her appointment on December 9 and it decided to have an executive session about the appointment, since it is a personnel matter, on December 11 at 5 p.m. The town is still advertising for a permanent code enforcement officer as is Lamoine.

The board did confirm appointments for other portions of Larson’s duties, including appointing Reddersen as interim health officer for a term effective until June 30, 2026, and Town Clerk Jennifer LaHaye as the interim E911 addressing officer for a term effective until June 30, 2026.

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WARRANT COMMITTEE NEEDS MORE MEMBERS

Warrant Committee Chair Anne Trotter said the committee is looking for Southwest Harbor voters who would like to join the warrant committee.

Anyone interested can contact the town office for further information on joining.

“You don’t get paid, but you do get to hang out with a very cool bunch of folks once a week for the month of February (and a bit of March) and talk about the town budget, which is genuinely interesting,” Trotter said.

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LINKS TO LEARN MORE

TOWN OF SOUTHWEST HARBOR
PO BOX 745
SOUTHWEST HARBOR, MAINE 04679
207.244.5404 | FAX: 207.244.4483
OFFICE HOURS: Monday-Thursday | 7:30-5:30

To review select board minutes, click here.