Introducing the new motto for the Westbrook Fire Department: If at first you don't succeed, pay, pay again.

This week, the Westbrook City Council decided unanimously to pay the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence as much as $20,000 to train the city's firefighters how to behave like gentlemen.

More specifically, the city wants certain male members of the department to stop harassing two of their female comrades – both of whom have been on paid administrative leave since last fall – with everything from lewd sexual advances to thinly veiled threats about what can go wrong inside a burning building.

"This certainly has been a black mark on the city and the fire service in Westbrook," Mayor Bruce Chuluda said Wednesday. "And we're certainly not proud of that."

They're also, we can only assume, tired of paying for it.

Let's itemize:

Way back in 1994, firefighter Kathy Rogers (then Reynolds) filed a sexual-discrimination-and-harassment complaint against the city. After the Maine Human Rights Commission ruled that she had grounds to sue, the case was settled for $7,500.

Then, in 2001, Rogers again complained. At issue this time, in addition to the sexual one-liners and the unfounded rumors that she was sleeping with her superiors, was the male firefighter who told her, "If you're in a building that's on fire, it's dangerous. People get hurt. There are no witnesses. Remember that."

Again, the commission found in Rogers' favor. The settlement in that case totaled $76,000, plus Rogers' attorney's fees.

Also as part of that settlement, the city brought in a law firm to conduct mandatory sexual-harassment prevention training for all members of the fire department.

It didn't work.

Last year, Rogers complained to city officials that some of her male counterparts continued to create a hostile, even dangerous work environment for her. This time she was joined by a fellow firefighter, Lisa Theberge.

Late last September, the two women asked for and received administrative leave with pay. They have yet to return to work, and their absence has left the city with unbudgeted overtime costs that passed the $100,000 mark in February. (Mayor Chuluda said updated overtime costs were not available this week).

Finally, in December, the Maine Human Rights Commission again cleared the way for the two women to sue the city – an option they're still considering.

In short, the inability of certain Westbrook firefighters to get their minds out of the gutter is getting pretty darned expensive for the city's taxpayers. And with a notice of claim against the city (the precursor to a lawsuit) by the two women still pending, the biggest dollar signs might be yet to come.

Enter Stephen Wessler, founder and executive director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence.

In an interview this week, Wessler said his goal isn't to change how the bad apples in the department feel about women in their ranks (a job much better suited for, say, Dr. Phil).

Rather, Wessler's task is simply to get these boys in boots to start behaving like grown men.

"People are entitled to have whatever beliefs they want," Wessler said. "But they don't have a right to act in a workplace in a way that makes other people feel unwelcome."

Wessler said his immediate plan is to meet individually or in small groups with the firefighters to "get a feel for what the climate is."

From there, he said, his strategy will center less on the legal do's and don'ts that dominated the last training program and more on the real-life impact of the men's behavior.

Wessler's bet, based on his experiences in similar workplaces: The real troublemakers will be "a relatively small number of people" within the 34-member department. Isolate their behavior, he said, and you're well on the way to helping the majority "create the kind of department...