By Rebecca Goldfine,Staff Writer

WATERFORD – Some residents have organized a watchdog group to oversee the actions of a selectman whose behavior rankles them.

Paul Hersey, owner of the North Waterford buffalo ranch Beech Hill Bison, said about 20 people attended a meeting last week to discuss Selectman Whizzer Wheeler.

“There’s a sign that I have made up,” Hersey said by phone Wednesday. “Waterford doesn’t need a dictator or a king. He’s running this town like his own little fiefdom. He’s forgetting the essential thing in politics is that he works for us, we don’t work for him.”

While the group did discuss the possibility of attempting to recall Wheeler, who has one year left on a three-year term, Hersey said he would prefer seeing more people critically observe the goings-on of town government.

“I am trying to get people involved,” Hersey said, by having them sit in on meetings of the selectmen and the Comprehensive Plan Committee, on which Wheeler is also a member. “It is my fault, too; we let this happen, then all of sudden you wake up one day and say, what in the hell is going on?'”

Kelly Wels, who was also at the meeting last week, said Wednesday, “The theme of the meeting was, Take back the town.'”

In the past year, Wheeler has pushed ahead with an agenda that some might call progressive, others controlling. He is a proponent of more land use ordinances to better manage growth, and selectmen updated tax rates for waterfront land to better reflect rising property values.

Selectmen have also led the town into a legal fight with a campground owner and placed questionable liens for unpaid taxes on campers parked at Keoka Beach Camping Area.

Hersey described Wheeler as “explosive.”

Wheeler said Wednesday in a phone conversation that the watchdog group represents a small fraction of townspeople, and that they’re mainly people upset over small, individual problems. When asked questions about the situation, he became angry and said he would prevent the reporter from ever coming back to Waterford, then hung up.

Colin Holme, who sits on both Waterford’s planning board and Comprehensive Plan Committee, acknowledged that while Wheeler does not have the most sugary personality, that he is a proponent of local environmental and historical preservation. In the end, Waterford will be a better place because of Wheeler’s tenure, he said.

“The best thing about Whizzer is he’s very interested in the town. The job doesn’t appeal to many people, and he puts the time into learning about the issues,” Holme said by phone. “Overall, he’s going to have a beneficial impact on the town.”

Wels said she and her husband, Scott, have resisted a request by Wheeler made last year, and more recently by the town code enforcement officer, to take down a dilapidated boat shack on their property because they felt the order was unreasonable while Scott was fighting in Iraq. They have a Web site that chronicles the issue, www.savetheboathouse.com.

And last week about 30 people showed up at a meeting to protest the decision by selectmen to fire the dump manager, Rockie Graham, who selectmen said was too volatile for the job, but who some townspeople said was just tough enough to keep the place running smoothly.

“It was a pile of things that made people say, wait a minute,” Hersey said. He added that he will try to ensure Wheeler is not re-elected next year. “I already told Whizzer that I will do anything to make sure he gets defeated in the next election,” he said.