TILTON, N.H. (AP) – A selectman who works nights ended up missing eight months of meetings, so fellow selectmen called for his resignation.

But Steve O’Leary of Tilton, who will finish his second, three-year term next March, said he plans to run for re-election “just to spite them.”

State law makes it almost impossible to remove a selectman from office, as long as he’s still alive, lives in town and hasn’t been deployed in the military or broken the law. So when O’Leary declined to leave, the four remaining board members dropped the issue.

However, a petition with 45 signatures has been submitted asking for O’Leary’s resignation. Another petition asks that the board changes the meeting schedule so O’Leary could attend. The board hasn’t taken action on either petition.

O’Leary, who works nights at Associated Grocers in Manchester, said he drops in at town hall at least twice a week to get updates and sign paperwork. He also watches videos of all the meetings.

On March 10, some members complained about O’Leary’s chronic absences and said they had asked O’Leary to modify his work schedule to attend meetings. The consensus was that his absence created an imbalance, according to the minutes.

Two weeks later, O’Leary went to his first meeting in eight months and argued that because his name was not on the March 10 agenda, and board members had discussed him when he wasn’t there to defend himself, his rights had been violated. He asked the board to hold at least one meeting per month on Friday mornings.

O’Leary said other selectmen are trying to unseat him because he opposes allowing the local football team to use a new field until the grass has grown in.

“The town spent $15,000 to create (the field),” he said. “The ground is so loose right now, those spikes will tear the whole field up.”

Selectman Bob Brown declined to comment on O’Leary’s remarks, only saying “Steve has gone through a lifestyle change (with the new job), and he’s trying to get back on track.”