Discord on Board Ratchets Up: Degen Calls For Eliot's Resignation
[Editor's note - Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Josh Degen opened his comments to fellow board members at Monday's meeting by reading a letter addressed to the Board regarding accusations leveled at him by Selectman Anna Eliot when he raised the issue of a video she authorized without a vote of the Board of Selectmen. See Letters to the Editor]
The level of mistrust, accusations, and divisiveness among individual members of the Board of Selectmen ratcheted up yet another notch when on Wednesday morning Selectman Chairman Joshua Degen submitted a letter to the local media asking for Selectman Anna Elliot's resignation from the Board of Selectmen. [See letter page 2.]
As a prelude to the letter requesting her resignation, Chairman Degen was clearly angered at last Monday's Selectmen's meeting by Selectman Anna Eliot's unfounded allegations made earlier in the day that Degen had colluded with Selectman Jack Petropoulos, a member of the Finance Committee and others.
Heated Meeting With Degen & Eliot in Town Manager's Office
Earlier in the day, a screaming argument between Selectmen Eliot and Degen had taken place in the Town Manager's office fueled by Selectman Eliot's behind-the-scenes initiative to produce and pay for a promotional video with town funds. Selectman Degen was angered by Eliot's inability to issue a direct apology to him for her unproven accusations against him - and the last straw - not revealing the whole picture of the costs for a video that had never been brought to Selectmen for their action. She also wanted to know why Degen had not contacted her, which he said would have been yet another violation of the Open Meeting Law.
This exchange of emails was released at the Board of Selectmen's meeting. Excerpts from the documents are below.
Following a heated meeting, earlier in the day on Monday in the Town Managers office where, according to Board of Selectmen Chairman Josh Degen, Anna Eliot "accused me of multiple things over the past years. All of which are not true." He wrote an email to her, "You have overstepped your bounds with me with your false accusations. The issue will be brought up before the board this evening. We need to discuss the Four Corners video. We also need to discuss your failure to understand the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law. In absence of a formal apology at this evening's selectmen's meeting from you to me on camera, you set us up for more arguments amongst the board. I will no longer tolerate your false accusations toward me nor your ignorance of the Open Meeting Law. Maybe your frustrations about Jack [Petropoulos] have boiled over to me. Regardless, enough is enough."
Eliot wrote back to Degen, "I am offering an apology for whatever it is that I may have said to you that led you to believe what you believe. I would be happy to discuss this before tonight's meeting."
Degen responded, "You don't even realize what you are apologizing for do you? Don't you remember what you accused me of earlier today? What you said I have been doing behind the scenes and who I have been talking to. How am I supposed to accept an apology when you don't even realize what you are apologizing for?"
