Selectman resigns in Chesterville

CHESTERVILLE – A selectman’s verbal resignation to the town clerk was accepted by the board Thursday evening, dropping the board back down to four members.

According to Town Clerk Heather Wheeler, Selectman Paul Caldwell recently came into the town office to sign paperwork, then handed his keys to Wheeler and told her he was resigning. Wheeler said that she asked Caldwell to submit a written resignation letter but that Caldwell left without doing so. He did not provide a specific reason he was leaving the board, Wheeler said.

Thursday, Wheeler informed the Board of Selectmen at their meeting. At the advice of the Maine Municipal Association, the board voted to accept Caldwell’s resignation, despite the lack of a letter. Caldwell’s seat will remain open until the March annual town meeting and accompanying elections.

The Chesterville board has seen significant turnover in the past few months. Two members, Anne Lambert and David Archer, both resigned on Sept. 15 after it was discovered that Internal Revenue Service penalties discussed at a special town meeting earlier than month had already been paid. It was later revealed that the roughly $2,600 penalty was assessed due to a failure to file timely payroll tax reports with the IRS in 2014 and 2015; residents had agreed to appropriate $3,500 at the Sept. 8 meeting.

At the Nov. 8 election, voters elected Tiffany Estabrook and Tyler Jenness. Estabrook, who submitted nomination papers, was elected narrowly over challenger Stephen Welch and is currently serving the two years and four months remaining on Archer’s term.

No one submitted nomination papers for the four months remaining on Lambert’s term. There were 43 write-in candidates, with Jenness earning 70 of them.

Jenness and Estabrook joined Caldwell, Chair Guy Iverson and Selectman Matt Welch on the board.

Wheeler says that Caldwell’s now-vacant seat on the board will be filled at the March election, with nomination papers available in January. Three seats will be up for reelection in total:

• The remaining year on Caldwell’s three-year seat.
• The three-year seat currently filled by Iverson.
• The perpetually one-year seat previously filled by Lambert, now filled by Jenness, and open again in March.