Nantucket Current | Planning department staff resigns…

Two employees of Nantucket’s Department of Planning and Land Use Services (PLUS) have resigned following the conclusion of the town’s investigation into an unspecified “internal personnel matter.”

Town Manager Libby Gibson identified the two resigned employees as Esmeralda Martinez and Adrian Rodriguez, but declined to provide details of the investigation. Martinez is a member of the Nantucket School Committee and was re-elected by voters to a second term in May.

Both Martinez and Rodriguez were placed on leave from their city positions in February and remained there until last month when the city’s investigation was completed. It is unclear if the leave was paid or unpaid.

Martinez worked as a compliance coordinator and land use specialist for the Historic District Commission, while Rodriguez served as an administrative specialist. Both declined to comment on the situation.

The Current asked Gibson about the investigation, including what specifically the city was investigating, the results of the investigation, whether any misconduct was found, and whether employees were given the choice to resign or be terminated from their jobs with the city.

“I am not authorized to publicly disclose the details of a personnel investigation, as far as your questions are concerned,” Gibson said. “The employees are Adrian Rodriguez and Esmeralda Martinez. It is public knowledge that they resigned.”

Gibson had previously responded to a request from Current the duration of the investigation, as well as how long the employees were on leave – almost five months – and whether their absence affected the operations of the PLUS department.

“The length of employee-related investigations depends on a variety of factors, including in this case the number of witnesses to be interviewed and the number of documents to be reviewed,” Gibson explained. “PLUS staff have worked diligently throughout the ongoing investigation to maintain a high level of customer service and to minimize disruption to the public. To that end, staff have worked overtime and completed required work tasks to keep the approval process on track for applicants.”

Department of Planning and Land Use Services Director Leslie Snell did not respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday.