FROM THE NEWSROOM: Following the resignation of Thompson Democratic Board of Finance Chairman Larry Guillot on January 15th, the Finance Board has found itself uncertain on how to move forward; Guillot has expressed concern that a 2-2 tied vote at a recent special meeting to appoint his replacement was not legally valid, because – according to his interpretation of state statute – all finance board members must be present. According to local Democratic officials -- including finance board members Larry Groh and Paul Dery, Selectman Shaina Smith and Democratic Town Committee Chairman Cathy Thomas -- the fact that Finance Board Republicans are supporting a Republican candidate goes against a longstanding tradition that a vacated seat be filled by a member of the same party as the outgoing official. According to state statute, the Board of Selectmen has the power to appoint a person to fill the vacancy, as it has been more than 30 days since the resignation. Thompson Democrats have been calling for another finance board special meeting to take place with all members present, rather than bringing what they consider a highly political issue to the Selectmen for a decision. But, Republican Selectman Kerstin Forrester believes it may be necessary to bring the issue to the Selectmen if the finance board cant resolve it, and if that that occurs, the Republican candidate should be considered equally by the Selectmen – despite current party traditions for filling vacancies. With the Board of Selectmen being Republican controlled, finance board member Groh said it would be “interesting” to see how that would play out, and that the towns lead governing body was still too new to predict whether there would be a Republican bias; Democrats are saying if the issue does go before the Selectmen, the right choice would be to honor party traditions and choose a Democrat to fill the empty seat. In the meantime, Democrats have expressed further concern that because the vacancy issue is being drawn out during budget season, it is negatively impacting the town, and argue the seat should be filled in a way that is unambiguously legal and honors party traditions. Tune in for the full report.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 11:54:32 +0000
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