BYRON – Selectman Patrick Knapp-Veilleux called the recall petition on Head Selectman Anne Simmons-Edmunds “ridiculous” Friday afternoon, a day after the petition was submitted to the town office.
“I think that the person who submitted the petition to remove Anne from office has a beef with her, and what's personal should remain personal,” Veilleux said. “I don't know the exact reasoning behind it, but I think that this issue should stay personal and leave the town out of it. Byron doesn't need another scandal.”
The petition comes nearly two weeks after residents overwhelmingly voted against a mandatory firearms possession article at the annual town meeting.
The petition was initiated by Robert P. Bourassa, who presented five reasons why Simmons-Edmunds should be recalled and removed from office, including subjecting residents of the town to ridicule, embarrassment and disrepute, failing to inform voters of a state law that would have voided the firearm ordinance, if passed, and misleading voters at the annual town meeting regarding a newspaper story about her by telling them she was misquoted.
Veilleux said that during Thursday night's selectmen meeting, there was “no discussion on the recall petition by the public whatsoever.
“The names were verified by the town clerk, but the petition hasn't been certified yet,” Veilleux said. “Nobody showed up to give their opinion on it.”
One question Veilleux had was why Edmunds was being singled out when all three selectmen, including Veilleux, approved the mandatory firearms possession article to appear on the warrant.
“We all voted to place that question on the warrant,” Veilleux said, “yet Anne is the only one with a recall petition. It's ridiculous.”
Veilleux said that while he doesn't think putting the firearms possession article on the warrant was a mistake, he thinks “there should have been a lot more discussion on it.
“Unfortunately, this whole thing turned into a big deal and snowballed out of control,” he said.
Edmunds and Selectman David Noyes declined comment on the recall petition Friday, although Edmunds suggested that if people wish to discuss the petition, they should show up at the next selectmen's meeting April 4.
Bourassa could not be reached for comment as of Friday night.
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Byron doesn't need another scandal.”
The three stooges Veilleux and his band of not thinking things through, should of thought a lot about all of this prior to opening Pandoras box of Ann's fathers mantra about his rights and not those of others as well.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Abuse of the recall procedure
Politicians at all levels are rightfully afraid of recall because it makes them accountable for their actions throughout their term of office rather than just the 6 months prior to reelection.
The recall petition in Byron appears to give those same politicians ammunition for their argument that the procedure will be abused by those who disagree with the pols policy stands. The other argument is that it will be used to try to overturn an election result someone doesn't like. In either case, it becomes all but impossible to have a stable government. It is micromanagement in the extreme.
Recall laws can be written to set a very high bar, making it difficult to get a recall vote by requiring that it wait a year after the election, that the number of signatures be substantial and that reasons be more serious than "she embarrassed the town with her foolishness."
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.WTF
“I think that the person who submitted the petition to remove Anne from office has a beef with her, and what's personal should remain personal,” Veilleux said. “I don't know the exact reasoning behind it, but I think that this issue should stay personal and leave the town out of it. Byron doesn't need another scandal.”
So he has no idea of an alleged reason or an idea of a personal attack by the filer but states there is. So that means anybody else that would of done so that might know her also and that makes it a personal attack. The filer is a citizen that wants this to be looked into the 5 legitimate reasons for a recall. Veilleux should shut his mouth and do what the people want and not what he thinks, or how it should be handled.
The other selectman has no say either way what any taxpayer wants to file a petition. He is ready to shoot that down but not what they wanted to put on the agenda for a town council meeting.
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