Two drinks, one to throw in someone's face and one to quaff. I'm so sorry :-(

Agree with the throwing.

I would do two things.

First, contact whomever in your town seems most likely to listen to you. Where I live, I was shocked that my town council member was happy to talk to me for a full hour on a Sunday. There's always somebody. And make your voice heard, positive about fab guy and negative about firing him.

Second, see if you can contact fab guy and write him up a letter of recommendation to help in his job search. Ask your GC if he knows of any openings--inspector, foreman, whatever. Do you what you can to pay him back.

oh, no! i'm SO sorry to read this news. take a breath. i'm not going to give you some feel-good speech about how good always wins over evil, since i unfortunately have not had that experience either ...YET.

but here's to the new year, peace on earth and that you and i will persevere -and to the hope that there is a special place in hell for crooked GCs throughout the world.

I really agree with Marcolo (again).
He said it better than I can, but I want to emphasize it.

I didn't even think of the importance of YOU being proactive here. Yes. Put his expertise and the injustice of his firing in writing. Talk to authorities. It's OK to be a PIA when someone's reputation and livelihood are at stake. A day or two on your part make a huge difference for him.

Perhaps, fabulous guy accepted an offer to be Manager (or whatever is a higher office) at a different Township and that got out at lunch and the current Township office made him leave then and there?

Just trying to put a positive spin on an otherwise bummer situation...

hth, a little

I don't know that I would speak negatively about the firing of Fabulous Guy to your township. At least not if it would label you in a negative way and make it harder to get your permits and inspections. My sympathies in losing Fabulous Guy though. But maybe he wasn't the only Fabulous Guy there. Maybe there's Extraordinary Guy or Gal too.

I agree with marti8a. Fab Guy is gone, even if unfairly fired, and you have to deal with whomever is left. Best to cultivate a positive relationship with the department in general, so you don't become That Person. It's entirely possible they're all jerks, but figure out a way to deal.

On the other hand, offering to write a letter of recommendation for Fab Guy is a wonderful idea. Hopefully he will be better off somewhere else.

I expect there's a sense of loss here, and of abandonment. He was your shield in the face of some really awful insanity.

I wouldn't expect you to speak badly of anyone, but I also suggest asking to speak with his replacement, since "the previous fellow holding that position really demonstrated to power and concern of the office" or some such ... stuff. Ask if you can explain a little of your story, and based upon that experience, ask if he'd meet with your new GC to simply prevent anything untoward and make certain the job is up to snuff.

You never know. S/he might know of your story, or feel something wasn't handled correctly with previous guy.

A recommendation letter is the nicest way to show how much you appreciate him and his help. Particularly if you go to the effort to track him down.

Sorry to have you out there worrying about thin ice again. Hopefully with your new GC all that is in the past, anyway.

Agree with what Marcolo proposes. You don't have to be negative while speaking positively about Fab Guy. Also, to do what you feel is right, will make you feel a lot better, too.

What I did right off the bat yesterday was to write an email back to the supervisor saying how sorry I was that fabulous guy had moved on as he had been so helpful to us during a very difficult situation and that I was looking forward to working with the new person. I am really not looking to rock the boat at the Township when we still have so many outstanding issues and need our new permit.
Very selfishly I am afraid of how this will affect us too. He WAS our shield and a great comfort and him being gone and potentially leaving us open to all sorts of permit issues is really scary.

I will leave it a few days and contact fab guy and say that I heard he was no longer there and was sorry to see that he had moved on. If he responds and tells me what happened I can offer to write a recommendation letter then.

He really was good and kind. I am so sad that this happened to him.