Morristown board split on vacant seat

Smith is editor of the weekly newspaper, the News & Citizen, which was sold Oct. 1 to the Stowe Reporter company. The new owner’s policies ban members of the news staff from holding public office, calling it a conflict of interest.

Two Morristowners applied for the open seat, and both were deemed qualified by the remaining four members of the select board. However, two of the four board members favored one applicant, and the other two favored the other one. So, they chose to choose neither.

Yvette Mason, a member of the Morristown Planning Commission, and Eric Dodge, a former police officer, both applied earlier this month for the open seat on the select board. Whoever was elected by the board would serve only until Town Meeting Day, March 1, when the voters would choose the fifth board member.

“In my mind, both candidates would make very good select board members,” board chairman Bob Beeman said this week of Dodge and Mason.

At its meeting Nov. 9, the select board decided to go the next three months with a four-person board, Beeman said. The board wished Dodge and Mason well, and encouraged both to run for the board in March.

Two seats will be open then — the seat vacated by Smith, and one occupied by Steve Rae, who has indicated he will run again, Beeman said.

But these next few months are typically the most difficult time of year for select boards across the state. That’s when municipal budgets are crafted, and meetings run long.

And, as indicated by the Nov. 9 meeting, when half the board voted to appoint Mason and half voted for Dodge, a fifth member would come in handy to break ties.

As a result, the board will try again at its next meeting.

Try, try again

In addition to the tie vote on Mickey Smith’s replacement, “we were also hearing it from the public: ‘Why wouldn’t you have five people?’” said Brian Kellogg, vice chairman of the board.

He’d be happy with either Dodge or Mason, saying they’ve both done a lot for the community.

The select board did discuss holding a special election so voters decide who serves the remaining three months of Smith’s term. It cost only about $400, Beeman said. But Kellogg said the board decided an election would be too much of a hassle for a three-month span. Better, he said, to just come to consensus and pick a candidate.

Both the elected applicant and the one not chosen can try again on Town Meeting Day. And Kellogg pointed out that the list of would-be appointees aren’t just limited to the two people who already tried earlier this month.

“Anybody has a right to come in,” as long as he or she is a Morristown resident, Kellogg said.