TURNER – Dennis Richardson resigned as chairman of the Board of Selectmen on Monday night after a motion was made that the town stop doing business with Citgo gasoline company.

Author of the motion, Selectman Charlie Mock, said that because President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela “called the president names and did so in our own country, the town of Turner should not be sending its money to a dictator who has nationalized the Citgo company.”

Richardson raised the issue of freedom of speech in America.

“It’s one thing to make a motion to disagree with the remarks of an idiot from Venezuela, but quite another to punish good, taxpaying citizens of Turner for his remarks,” he said.

Mock said his motion was made to have the board “stand for principle, to send a message that we will not tolerate such comments about our president.”

Richardson noted there are two gas stations in town with Citgo logos, both on Route 4, and they are both owned by Turner taxpayers.

“Are we going to boycott those Turner taxpayers for the remarks of an idiot from Venezuela?” he asked. “What will our emergency vehicles do late at night if they need fuel? Are they going to fill it at Citgo or run out of gas? We can’t be punishing our own residents.”

Planning Board Chairman Jeff Timberlake, who was at the meeting on another matter, raised the issue of where gas stations in Turner and other communities were really selling the gasoline brand they advertised or “whether it isn’t really all Irving gas anyway. The fuel fields in Portland are all full of Irving fuel.”

Those comments led to a vote to table the motion to the next meeting while the source of the Citgo dealers’ fuel is determined.

About an hour later, just before the meeting adjourned, Richardson announced to a stunned board that he was resigning as chairman, “effective tonight, with no possibility of reconsideration. I cannot sit as chairman of a board that chooses to punish Turner citizens and taxpayers for the absurd remarks of an idiot from Venezuela, and then votes to make matters worse by prying into the source of Turner merchants’ product.”

Richardson said he would have a letter of resignation on the desk of Town Manager James Catlin this morning, and asked for a motion to accept his resignation. None was forthcoming.

Vice Chairman Ralph Caldwell said: “Absolutely, no way, will I ever make such a motion.”

“I never intended such a result from my motion on the boycott,” Mock said, and he expressed the hope Richardson would reconsider.

Selectmen Henry Gibbert and Lawrence House were silent.

Richardson, who said he would remain a board member, has served about two and a half years, and been chairman for the past year. Prior to his service as selectman, the safety trainer for W.D. Matthews Machinery Co. in Auburn served on the Board of Appeals, and has volunteered in a number of community activities.