The Pomfret Selectboard has chosen former board member Eric Chase to fill the governing body seat left open by the passing of longtime community servant Marge Wakefield last month.
The five-member board made the decision at its regular bimonthly meeting on Wednesday, June 17, after interviewing Chase and one other Pomfret resident, former teacher Christine Stevens, in public session. The decision to appoint Chase to fill the late Wakefield’s seat was made in executive session and ratified in public at the end of last week’s board meeting by a 3-1 vote. Chase will serve until the Town Meeting in March of next year, at which point Pomfret voters will select a replacement to complete the remainder of Wakefield’s two-year term.
The Pomfret Selectboard received four letters of interest for the open board seat as of the June 15 submission deadline. One applicant for the post dropped out, and the third — another former town selectperson, Frank Perrin — did not appear for an interview before the board. The only selectboard member to oppose Chase’s appointment was Steve Chamberlin, who opined that he had “nothing against Eric — I just feel that maybe a totally new perspective might have been beneficial.” The remaining board members — chair Benjamin Brickner, vice chair John Peters, and selectperson Emily Grube — all voted in favor of Chase.
For more on this, please see our June 25 edition of the Vermont Standard.
