Plurality vote.

Quorum of three.

Home rule.

How about common sense?

In ousting two members from its ranks, Rumford selectmen made the wrong choice.

Punishing selectmen for violating procedure doesn’t mean inventing procedure by which to remove them. Nothing in the town’s charter dictates the removal of selectmen; this responsibility – in common practice – lies with voters.

It’s a terrible precedent for an elected board to jettison problematic members, regardless of underlying behavior. And there’s been some pretty bad behavior.

Selectmen Frank DiConzo and Arthur Boivin are the tree-cutting duo, duly elected in 2007 and 2006, respectively. These boisterous men are well known to Rumford voters, and were voted in as the people’s choice. So, while they exercise questionable tactics and can be difficult, voters selected them anyway. Government has an obligation to honor these choices.

DiConzo and Boivin were removed by a less-than-quorum vote of Selectmen Greg Buccina and Brad Adley last week for violating procedures after the selectmen-turned-tree-cutters pushed a successful campaign to disband a voter-elected Charter Commission, a commission that was disbanded, reinstated, disbanded and reinstated within a three-month period.

See the rub here?

Buccina and Adley violated procedure by voting to oust DiConzo and Boivin for violating procedure.

This merry-go-round is tiresome, and town attorney Thomas Carey must take some responsibility for the current situation.

During the on-again off-again Charter Commission fray, Carey made a careful review of the charter in researching selectmen’s actions to disband the commission, and advised the board they did not have the authority to disband a citizen-created commission until after the commission’s work was done.

That was in January.

At last week’s meeting, well versed in Robert’s Rules of Order and with a recent review of the charter under his belt, Carey was tepid in his advice to the board.

Before the vote ousting two selectmen, Carey weakly suggested that the board itself should decide whether it was appropriate to cast votes without an appropriate quorum. Further, he suggested selectmen “might be able to make up a rule of necessity to make up for no quorum,” which almost sounds like words of encouragement.

Days after the vote to remove DiConzo and Boivin, Carey drafted a richly-worded letter with his firm opinion that Buccina and Adley violated Robert’s Rules of Order by taking action without a clear quorum.

In his letter, Carey notes that as town attorney, “it is my duty to inform you and the selectmen of the legalities of its actions.” That’s right; a duty that existed and should have been vigorously exercised March 7.

It is Carey’s professional opinion that Buccina and Adley’s shared vote is null and void, which means DiConzo and Boivin remain members of the board of selectmen.

So, when selectmen convene next week, Boivin and DiConzo will be on board and the town’s business will grind forward.

The good people of Rumford, who elected five men to serve on their board of selectmen, deserve better behavior than they’re getting. Any member of this board has the ability and the capacity to turn this sad state of affairs around. All of them, including Carey, should be trying to do just that.

Immediately.