Like most allegations some are true, and some are not, but I will cooperate fully with rectifying this situation.”

Cort Chappell, in his resignation letter

PORTSMOUTH — A pressure campaign by a disgruntled citizen has led to the resignation of the town prosecutor over his failure to pull building permits for past construction projects on his property.

Michael DiPaola, known as the “toilet guy” by some residents and the “FU Portsmouth guy” by others, has been hounding town officials for several months with messages and e-mails accusing former Town Prosecutor Cort Chappell of conducting un-permitted work on his farm off West Shore Road. 

“Mr. Chappell built a huge addition on his property at 80 Evans Way, all without one permit. Mr. Chappell built an entire 20x40 structure with garage space on lower level, and an apartment on the 2nd floor,” DiPaola stated in one e-mail to town officials. 

Chappell informed Town Administrator Richard Rainer, Jr. he was stepping down from his position as town prosecutor in an April 12 letter.

“I am cognizant of the allegations against me and believe that this is best for the town,” Chappell wrote. “As you know I have taken actions to correct the sins of the past on my farm. Like most allegations some are true, and some are not, but I will cooperate fully with rectifying this situation.”

Building Official Matthew Kent confirmed the town got wind of the un-permitted work after receiving a complaint.

“It looks like this was all reported because somebody looked at old aerial photos. It looks like (Chappell) did a barn in 2008 and did an addition to his house in 2014,” Kent said, noting the barn was for horses that Chappell keeps on the property.

Kent said the town will fine Chappell, who’s applied for a building permit and is expected to submit some additional plans.

“He’s making it right,” said Kent. “Evidently, it was on the tax roll, and he was paying taxes on it … but we needed to step back and say, ‘You have to get the proper permits.’”

DiPaola, who maintains a so-called “spite lot” on East Main Road in the south end of Portsmouth that’s filled with signs accusing the town of various misdeeds, also took his allegations to social media. In his resignation letter, Chappell said he tries “to stay off the internet these days to avoid the constant barrage of attacks both personal, professional and against our town.”

While he didn’t defend choices made in his private life, Chappell said he would defend the town and the role he played in prosecuting actions on behalf of the Portsmouth Police Department. 

“I have served under six chiefs and multiple department heads in my stints as prosecutor,” he stated in his letter. “I leave it to these people to judge my performance. Our police, planning, zoning and building departments as well as our administration are second to none. I have many regrets, but my greatest regret is involving the town and the people currently representing these departments in my feud.”

‘Vitriolic accusations’

“I don’t have a feud with anyone,” DiPaola told The Portsmouth Times in a recent e-mail, while making further accusations the town is turning a blind eye to other illegal building projects he claims are happening in the local area.

Rainer and other town officials have been barraged with e-mails and messages from DiPaola for years. His e-mails are all over the place — full of clip art, lines of dialogue from movies like “Pulp Fiction” or TV shows such as “South Park,” Bible quotes — you name it. Making heads or tails of them can be challenging. 

“He regularly e-mails us with complaints that are filled with vitriolic accusations and profane language,” Rainer said. “I think the attorney general has determined this is free speech and the bar for that sort of abuse is higher for municipal employees. We try to behave as best we can.”

The court system has said the same thing about DiPaola’s sign-filled vacant lot on East Main Road, and an earlier but smaller display on Bristol Ferry Road. It’s protected free speech.

The town tries its best to answer DiPaola’s complaints, just like it would any other citizen, the administrator said.

“He drives around town and gets assumptions that somebody’s doing work at their house with permits and he makes a complaint,” Rainer said. “It’s a complaint-driven system and we treat his complaints the same way we treat everybody else. He’s not always happy with the responses.”

Vacancy to be filled

At last week’s Town Council meeting, Rainer said his office has received a “number of applications” for the vacant town prosecutor’s job. He said he’d get those to council members in advance of a review and discussion at the next meeting set for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, at Town Hall.