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Harris and Pulnik Appointed to Library Board of Trustees

By Michelle Murdock, Freelance Writer

Watch the HCAM News summary of last night's Board of Selectmen's meeting as the board votes to appoint library trustees!

The Board of Selectmen appointed June Harris and Stanley Pulnik to the two open seats on the Board of Library Trustees at their meeting on Tuesday, June 14th.

On Monday June 13th, a small, but interested crowd gathered at Town Hall as Town Clerk Ann Click and the Board of Registrars opened and counted the sealed absentee ballot. The hope was for a vote which would break the tie between candidates June Harris and Leda Arakelian, but the single vote cast for was for John Belger, making the appointment by selectmen the only way to fill the vacant seats.

Harris and Arakelian both received a total of 1,103 votes in the May annual Town Election, but due to election laws requiring staggered terms going to the highest vote getter, the tied vote resulted in a “failure to elect”. Assistant Town Clerk Deborah Holbrook tendered her resignation during the ongoing discussion of how to remedy the problem, stating that she felt the entire process had been mishandled.

In order to be considered for a seat on the board, applications were required to be submitted to the Board of Selectmen. June Harris submitted her application, Leda Arakelian did not and write-in candidate Stanley Pulnik submitted his, but not before the deadline to get on the selectmen’s agenda for Tuesday night.

When asked why she didn’t apply, Arakelian replied that she did not want to be appointed to a position that she ran for, tallying over 1,000 votes.

“I’m just glad it’s over now and I can move on,” said Arakelian at the Monday night ballot opening. “I will support the library and everything the library stands for and help out in whatever way I can, but it won’t be as a library trustee.”

Pulnik’s application, while not past the deadline on the posting, did not make the deadline to get on the selectmen’s agenda for Tuesday night. While Selectman Ben Palleiko argued against making an appointment that night, without seeing any background information from Pulnik, Selectman Brian Herr argued in favor of settling the matter and filling the position that night. The two elected library trustees were consulted and the decision to appoint Pulnik was voted and approved.

Library Trustee Marie Eldridge, who was the top vote getter in the May election, was ready to move forward and get to work on library issues.

“I’m thrilled that this library trustee situation has been resolve,” said Eldridge. “I think that we have five really good members and now we can move forward. It’s unfortunate that things unfolded this way, but democracy can be messy, and this was quite messy, but everyone persevered and I think we have a good outcome.”

For more on the Ice Rink Proposal, see related story Here.

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