On Monday, Woodstock Selectboard member and former chairperson, Ray Bourgeois tendered his resignation after years of service to the town.
And during a special selectboard meeting held Tuesday, the remaining board members moved forward with plans to replace him. In a vote that passed unanimously, the board decided to leave his seat on the five-person board vacant until an election can be held during the primary voting on Aug. 11.
Ray Bourgeois
Chairperson Susan Ford began the discussion at Tuesday’s meeting by thanking Bourgeois for his years of service to the selectboard, as well as to local non-profit boards.
Municipal manager Eric Duffy then informed the board of the options available to fill the now-vacant seat. “Typically, [the process] is as simple as the selectboard appointing a new member,” he said. Duffy made reference to the board appointing members such as Cliff Johnson and Laura Powell in the recent past, outlining that if the board chose to move forward with that method, the town would announce the vacancy, provide time for those interested to apply and be interviewed, go through a public meeting, and then be chosen by the selectboard.
If the board chose to appoint someone this way, the appointee would have to formally run for election at the end of Bourgeois’ term in March 2027. In a follow-up conversation with the Standard, Duffy explained that an appointee would serve until the next town election, which would be at Town Meeting in March.
He also told the board they could “hold the seat open for whenever the next election happens, whether that be in August [or] November, at the choosing of the selectboard.” Duffy later explained to the Standard that “Ray Bourgeois’ seat is up this coming March [2027], so the person elected in August or November would fulfill the rest of Ray’s term, which would end on Town Meeting Day and then, if they wanted, that person could run again for Ray’s two[-year] term seat.”
With only four board members, Duffy explained that if a vote should come to a 2-2 tie, the vote would not pass.
The ability to allow the voters to choose the next selectboard member prevailed, as the board agreed unanimously to hold a public election on Aug. 11 to fill the vacant seat.
Bourgeois told the Standard this week, “My wife and I have decided to downsize and move closer to family.”
For more on this, please see our April 9 edition of the Vermont Standard.
