Vice Chair Vote Highlights Fissure on Williamstown Select Board

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A seemingly mundane decision about deciding on a board officer devolved into a critique of one member's service at Monday's Select Board meeting.

 

The recent departure of Andrew Hogeland left vacant the position of vice chair on the five-person board. On Monday, the board spent a second meeting discussing whether and how to fill that seat for the remainder of its 2024-25 term.

 

Ultimately, the board voted, 3-1-1, to install Stephanie Boyd in that position, a decision that came after a lengthy conversation and a 2-2-1 vote against assigning the role to a different member of the panel.

 

Chair Jane Patton nominated Jeffrey Johnson for vice chair after explaining her reasons not to support Boyd, who had expressed interest in serving.

 

Patton said members in leadership roles need to demonstrate they are "part of the team" and gave reasons why Boyd does not fit that bill.

 

Patton pointed to Boyd's statement at a June 5 meeting that she did not want to serve on the Diversity, Inclusion and Racial Equity Committee, instead choosing to focus on work in which she already is heavily engaged on the Carbon Dioxide Lowering (COOL) Committee.

 

"We've talked, Jeff [Johnson] and I, about how critical we think it is for a Select Board member to participate in other town committees," Patton said on Monday. "I know you participate with the COOL Committee, but, especially DIRE, you weren't interested in that."