This article by Darren Marcy was first published Jan. 5 in the White River Valley Herald.
CHELSEA — On Tuesday, Chelsea voters elected four new selectboard members to fill vacancies caused by a mass resignation in November.
The special election Tuesday, Jan. 3, had three competitive races for the four seats.
Kelly Nolan Lyford ran unopposed to fill two months of a three-year term. Lyford received 204 votes.
William Lyon defeated Dylan Greer, 169-37, to win a two-month seat in what would be a two-year term.
Both of those seats will be up for election in March. Lyon and Lyford, if they choose to, will have to run for election at that time.
Kevin Marshia beat Ronald Johnson 158-55 and will serve one year of a two-year term.
And Leyna Hoyt beat Nick Zigelbaum, 139-59, and will serve two years of a three-year term.
Lyford said she’s looking forward to getting to work for Chelsea. “I’m excited to get to work on some of the projects in front of us, starting with the budget,” Lyford said. “I anticipate that we’ll prioritize things after hearing from the existing selectboard member and when we actually dive into things.”
Marshia also signaled eagerness to begin his service.
“I am looking forward to working with this new selectboard and the community to address short-term issues, while also looking for opportunities to create a collective vision for the future of our town,” Marshia said.
Efforts to reach other newly elected board members were unsuccessful in the short time between the election and press deadline.
The budget will be front and center when the board members take their seats. Town reports have to go to the printers soon and a town budget has to be ready for voters. Most towns get started on their budget process in December, if not before.
The one board member who did not resign is Geoff Clayton, who was appointed to the board and has not been through a budget cycle.
The other four board members resigned following a ruckus over the disciplining of town road foreman Rick Ackerman. The board had met with Ackerman in an attempt to have a private conversation with him, but according to the board members, Ackerman abruptly quit instead.
The following meeting had five dozen people demanding the board members resign their positions so Ackerman would return. Four of the five took the townspeople up on that, and in the following days, resigned.
Seven people filed paperwork to get their names on the ballot by Nov. 28 and Tuesday’s election was scheduled. Town Clerk Karen Lathrop said Tuesday’s election had a turnout of 215 people.
It was only the second Australian ballot for election of officers, as Chelsea’s elected officials are usually elected from the floor at town meeting.
Lathrop said she thought it was a good turnout, as the last floor vote had only four voters in attendance.
