PARIS – Chairwoman Barbara Payne threatened to clear the room at Monday night’s selectmen’s meeting as a group of residents accused the town of recruiting the Police Department to remove signs endorsing David Ivey and Glen Young.

Ivey and Young are two of five people running for two selectmen’s spots, and several signs endorsing them have sprouted on roadsides, and a banner endorsing the duo stretches across a trailer on Main Street.

Some residents said the Paris Police Department was called out Saturday to remove signs endorsing Ivey and Young from utility poles. Young and others accused Selectman Gerald Kilgore of being the one who made the call to have the signs taken down.

Kilgore denied it and said he had a similar situation happen to him five to 10 years ago when his political signs were removed from utility poles.

Payne said she had been out of town the past 10 days and was unaware of the issue.

Central Maine Power Co.’s Web site asks residents not to attach anything to utility poles without permission and cites a law passed by the Legislature regarding “trespass on a utility pole,” which carries a fine of up to $100.

One resident said the law is antiquated and meant to protect utility workers who scale the poles while wearing spiked boots. Others said the law would require several other signs on utility poles, such as “no trespassing” signs, to be removed.

Selectman Ernest Fitts questioned why police took down the political signs but not others on the poles. He said if Paris started to enforce the law, it would be the first town in the United States to do so.

“Can’t we just forget about this and let things go back to normal?” he asked.

As the debate swelled to raucous periods of shouting, Payne threatened to clear the room.

“This meeting is not going to be made a mockery of,” Town Manager Sharon Jackson said.

Many of the angry comments were directed against Payne, who is also a candidate in today’s election.

Bruce Hanson said he appreciated Payne’s three years of service, but was “totally ashamed” of the town officials in regards to the sign issue.

Telling Payne that the days of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein are over, he accused Payne for trying to control Jackson, who he described as a good town manager.

“With your hand between her shoulder blades, it’s not going to work,” Hanson said.

Franca Ainsworth said there should be clearer rules regarding political signs and that the bitter discussion was “beneath us.”

“I think communication should be a little more explicit,” she said.

Ainsworth suggested the signs could be put back up.

As the discussion drew to a close and the board prepared to go into executive session on the next article, several residents refused to leave until Troy Ripley’s motion from early in the meeting was addressed.

Ripley asked for a selectman make a motion that the board “talk to the taxpayers instead of just hearing what they have to say.”

In the commotion that followed, Selectman Fitts made the motion, and Selectman William Merrill seconded it.

Jackson said the citizens’ comments portion of the meeting was designed to allow citizens to present their questions or comments for review by the board, and she was unsure how Ripley’s request differed from that. Ripley said he has asked questions of the board in the past that have not been directly addressed.

“It is my ruling that (article) number seven is citizens’ comments,” said Payne in response to demands that the motion be addressed. She ruled that the motion had never been accepted as valid.

Jackie Young, wife of Glen Young, and others said Payne’s decision was illegal, but they left the meeting after Selectman Raymond Glover said Payne’s decision was based on her prerogative as chairwoman.