OXFORD — Selectmen made appointments for most boards and committees Thursday but held off on appointing members to the Recreation Committee, to the ire of several in attendance.

Town Manager Michael Chammings said the town needed to rewrite the Recreation Committee’s bylaws first. He said he’d like to see more people applying for the board, and for the board to have an odd number of members.

The board currently has only six members out of a possible 12, Chammings said.

About a dozen people attended the meeting hoping to see the board address whether it would reappoint Gary Smith to the Recreation Committee. Smith’s term ended June 30 and he’s up for reappointment. However, at a previous board meeting several parents accused Smith of insulting children during an argument with Coach Randy Mills at a June 20 Oxford White Sox baseball game.

Sue Parsons of Otisfield asked the board to just vote rather than delay the issue. “Why can’t you have the gumption to either poop or get off the pot?” Parsons asked.

“We’re not here to discuss that tonight,” Chammings said.

Later, outside of the meeting, Parsons defended Smith and called the allegations against him “a vendetta.”

“No one will ever take his place. Ever,” she said.

Others wanted to see the issue resolved.

“This is a hot issue, Mike, that’s been in the newspaper and made our town look foolish once again,” Charles Howe of Oxford said to Chammings. “All because certain people want to keep it in the public eye. Well, let’s put it to bed tonight. Let’s make the appointments that are available.”

Howe later said he was “ashamed” of seeing the discussion in public. He said it was a private matter that should have been discussed behind closed doors.

Chammings and Recreation Committee Chairwoman Pamela Lovely said they would set a meeting between the Board of Selectmen and the Recreation Committee to discuss changing the committee’s bylaws.

treaves@sunjournal.com

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