In the wake of the Halifax Town Administrator and two selectmen resigning, a public meeting was held to discuss the next steps.
About 30 residents attended the meeting, and questioned how the town would continue operations.
Selectman Jonathan Selig told residents the town will continue to follow the status quo, through the state rule of necessity.
“No changes or anything, no reinventing the wheel,” Selig told WATD. “We’re just going to make sure our bills get paid, our warrants get signed, and we just continue with the day to day as close as possible until we can get to the election and get our full board.”
According to Town Clerk Susan Lawless, the special election to fill two seats will be held on November 8th. Nomination papers are available today, and the deadline to submit them to the Town Clerk is October 4th. October 29th is the voter registration deadline.
“From inside town, from outside town, our state reps have been reaching out, Selectmen from other communities, Town Administrators from other communities,” said Selig. “Everybody recognizes that this is an unprecedented situation. Their response has been the same – ‘what can we do, what can we do to help?’ Sometimes through the dark, you see the light. It’s been really encouraging to see so many good people trying to help us out.”
He’s the remaining member of the three-member board, Chair Ashley DiSesa and Selectman Alexander Meade resigned last week. Town Administrator Marty Golightly announced his resignation after he was appointed on July 6.
According to audio from Area 58 Halifax on YouTube, an emergency Selectmen’s meeting was held on August 25th.
DiSesa read a letter from Golightly, that said the town was not the right fit for him. After reading the letter, DiSesa apologized on behalf of the board for his treatment by some residents and employees saying “I’m sorry that our town is very toxic.”
Announcing her resignation, she said she “weathered a storm of misogyny, sexual harassment, underestimation, and doubts about my abilities to perform my expected duties.” She said she was being attacked by residents, and the town was being torn apart by personal vendettas.
Meade, who was elected in May, said in the interest of protecting the health and safety of his family – especially his children – he was resigning from the board.
Dick Wright is a 47-year resident of the town, and served 12 years on the Finance Committee. He moved to the area for a rural feel, and says this situation does not highlight the true Halifax.
“I have to give [Jonathan] all the credit in the world to stand tall, and take the brunt — that we will pursue, and we will go forward,” said Wright. “I think like Jonathan said – when our nose is pressed to the wall, people will come forward. I think there’s a good heart in Halifax. It’s a small enough community, where everybody knows everybody, and everybody is pulling together. I think we will weather the storm, personally.”
Due to the state election on the same day, many current poll workers in town will be used for that process.
Selig said state law dictates that they will need to use their own election workers for the special election.
“We’ll need at least a handful of extra poll workers to help us out. So if anybody has some time, they can help us in this situation, great, reach out to our Town Clerk,” said Selig. “My advice is, watch what we do. Watch what this community does in the face of adversity. I think you’ll be impressed.”
The meeting concluded with applause for Selig after a resident thanked him for stepping up.
Longtime resident Alan Dias hopes Selig gets the support he needs.
“Halifax is a great town. I’ve lived there 42 years, the last five or six years have been very contentious with the elections. There’s been some lawsuits, a lot of allegations back and forth. That created a gigantic turmoil with town employees and personnel,” said Dias. “I think it’s time for us to put that behind us. We need to rebuild. I think that we need to support whoever our selectmen are, so we can move forward.”
WATD’s Gill Johnston contributed to this report.
