HARTLAND -- The town government has hired the former town manager of St. Albans as a temporary leader.

Selectmen this week hired Larry Post as acting town manager, about a month after they fired longtime Town Manager Peggy Morgan.

Out on paid medical leave for cancer treatment since Sept. 4, Morgan told selectmen on Oct. 7 that her tumor was gone and she felt well enough to return to work. Selectmen said they didn't want her back. The decision sparked community outrage, drawing about 100 people to the public vote last month on Morgan's job.

Morgan previously said she had enlisted the service of an attorney and spoken with officials from the Maine Human Rights Commission because she feels her termination was handled improperly, but it's unclear whether she intends to pursue legal action. Messages left at her home were not returned.

First Selectman Harry Gould has said that selectmen will not discuss Morgan's firing with the public because it's a personnel matter.

Morgan suspected that selectmen blamed her for the town's recent financial woes. The town government has struggled with a late bill of $400,000 that's owed to School Administrative District 48, stemming from miscalculations in which the town didn't assess high enough taxes on some properties to cover its expenses.

Post, 55, of St. Albans, said in an interview that he is focused on bringing "financial stability" to the town government. He will be paid $975 a week.

"Currently, the town is in a financial crunch," Post said. "There's some issues that need to be addressed and we're looking at discovering all of those issues and addressing them, both short-term and long-term."

The town has paid off some of its debt to SAD 48 and worked out an arrangement to pay back the balance of the debt during the next two years, Post said.

Post, who grew up in St. Albans, said he knew Morgan well during her nearly 30 years as a town manager. The town is moving on in the aftermath of the contentious firing of Morgan, Post said.

"I'm not here to find any blame or find any fault; I'm simply here to help them solve the issues they have," Post said. "I'll be here until they tell me the task is accomplished. I'll just take it a day at a time.

Post's tenure in St. Albans was marked with controversy. He ended his 30-year run as town manager this June, agreeing to resign "to rid the town of past and present controversy, and enable a town government, free of distractions, to move the municipality forward into more productive endeavors," he explained at the time.

Post was briefly ousted from the position in 2006 when selectmen opted not to renew his contract. Selectmen had accused Post of insubordinate and disrespectful behavior, taking unauthorized action and withholding information.

Much of the controversy revolved around a dispute with landowner Gary Jordan, who has claimed the town and residents along Town Landing Road misused a right of way over his land.

Residents voted in a whole new board of selectmen in March 2006 and Post was awarded a new contract.