Paris Selectmen Chris Summers, left, Peter Kilgore, center, and Chairman Rusty Brackett consider the resignations of Selectmen John Andrews and Gary Vaughn on Monday night. The board will operate with three members for the immediate future. Jon Bolduc/Sun Journal
PARIS — The Board of Selectmen accepted the resignations Monday night of Selectmen Gary Vaughn and John Andrews.
Vaughn submitted his resignation June 17, a day after the annual town meeting, and Andrews resigned Sunday, according to Chairman Rusty Brackett.
Vaughn and Andrews were elected to three-year terms in 2017.
Brackett said the town received a message from Vaughn stating he was resigning from all town boards and committees as of June 18.
“It was a pleasure serving with you but I find I am unable to commit to serve the folks that put faith in me,” Vaughn wrote. “I wish the town well in the future.”
In his resignation letter, Andrews wrote his responsibilities as a Republican serving Paris, Buckfield and Hebron in the Maine House of Representatives are his priority.
“I’ve tried my best to last as long as I could as as a selectman in the service of the town,” Andrews wrote. “After some recent in-house scheduling changes, I need to spend more time with my family and give my full attention to my duties in Augusta. I have enjoyed serving with you and wish you all the best in the future.”
Brackett said there is no rush to fill the two openings on the five-seat board. The town meeting marked the end of the annual budget cycle, temporarily reducing the board’s responsibilities.
“We’re going to start by taking a deep breath and relaxing a minute,” Brackett said. “We’re going to have a meeting or two, get through those, see where we stand and know we need to end up with a five-member board. That’s eventually what we’re going to do. The day that’s going to happen, I don’t have that date.”
The remaining selectmen, besides Brackett, are Chris Summers and newly elected member Peter Kilgore.
Legally, three out of five votes are needed to reach a majority and accept motions so the board will be able to function.
Resident Bob Jewell questioned the practicality of waiting to fill the two open seats. He said it would be in the town’s best interest to have new selectmen as early in the budget cycle as possible.
Jewell also said any unforeseen circumstances or illnesses resulting in the absence of a selectmen would mean the board couldn’t act legally.
“If one of you guys aren’t here, or one of you gets sick, or something happens, there’s only two of you left, and the town can’t conduct business,” Jewell said. “For the health and welfare of the town, I think it would be in the selectmen’s best interest to fill those seats as soon as possible.”
Summers said operating for a while with a three-person board would be the right decision.
“People need to give this some consideration and see whether or not they’re interested in running,” he said. “Let sit back, let’s start thinking and lets do this the smart way.”
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