ADAMS, Mass. — Selectwoman Paula Melville is resigning from the board. Her decision will be announced at Wednesday night's meeting of the Board of Selectmen.
Melville submitted a resignation letter on Wednesday afternoon to the town clerk and the Board of Selectmen announcing her resignation effective at the end of the fiscal year — on July 1. She said she resigned in response to Monday's town election vote.
"I took the vote on Monday as a message," Melville said on Wednesday. "It's a different Adams than I thought it was."
Melville has been on the losing side of many 4-1 votes on the board over the past two years, and while there are many things she said she still wanted to bring forward to the board, she took Monday's election of John Duval and re-election of Arthur "Skip" Harrington as a sign from the voters that they want "more of the same."
"I had two tough years and I didn't need a third," Melville said, adding that she has felt ignored by her colleagues. "I am sorry if I disappointed anybody."
Melville has been the outside member of the board for the last two years and has often been chastised by the other board members for various actions, including filing an ethics complaint against her.
Duval and Harrington won election over Edward Driscoll, Jeremy Halek and Richard Blanchard.
Melville was swept into office two years ago with Scott Nichols as part of a turnover from the previous composition of the board. Harrington had won office just the year before, with Jason Hnatonko.
But her ideas of change never seemed to jive with that of the rest of the board. She also often found herself at odds with the town administrator over the lines of responsibilities between his post and the board's.
Melville said she had heard a lot of positive response from the people and was hoping that there would be a change in the "selectmen's agenda." She said she hadn't thought about resigning until after Monday's vote.
"Those are the voices that kept me here for two years and I hope that I satisfied them," Melville said. "I am very proud to have been elected and I served the best that I could."
She had no immediate plans to stay in town government but said she considers public service important.
"I am going to miss it," Melville said.
Harrington, currently the chairman, is expected to officially announce the resignation.
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This seems to be good news.... unless one considers that Driscoll might end up in her seat. They're pretty close buddies, so it's not inconceivable that he's still managing her puppet strings. He wants to be on that board!
I'm deeply disappointed in Selectwoman Melville. I feel that she should serve out the rest of her term and continue to be the voice of the Adams voters that put her there. But this is not the case. I hope the townsfolk will appeal to the board for a special election to have someone fill out the rest of her term. To my knowledge, the town doesn't have any bylaws that clearly state what to do in this situation.
In the past, when a member has resigned, it usually is at the discretion of the board to either hold a special election or to continue on without a fifth member and they usually select the latter. As a taxpayer, I understand that a special election costs the town money, but I would rather see my town spend that type of money so that the citizenry has a full board representing their best interests.
