ORANGE — The Selectboard’s makeup remains unchanged after revisiting a previous reorganization vote at a member’s request.

The board had voted at its March 8 meeting to appoint previous Vice Chair Tom Smith as the new chair and member Andrew Smith as the new vice chair while keeping Pat Lussier as clerk. But Lussier was angered by the motion and ensuing vote, and walked out of the meeting following a tense discussion. Member Richard Sheridan defended Lussier at the March 8 meeting, even asking Tom Smith to put the matter on Wednesday’s agenda.

Sheridan said a motion to amend the initial motion on March 8 was neglected and warranted a couple revotes. Andrew Smith had asked Tom Smith if he was willing to amend his motion in a way to make Tom the chair, Lussier the vice chair and Andrew the clerk. Tom Smith declined to do so. It should be noted that the Smiths are not related.

Sheridan also objected to Tom Smith’s motion to appoint a slate of officers, as opposed to separate motions for each individual position.

“I think that was also improper,” Sheridan said Wednesday.

Tom Smith said he wanted the issue resolved immediately.

“I do not want this dragged on for months and months and have it brought up again in another three months,” he said. Tom Smith also said he would not tolerate bickering and arguing, calling it unprofessional and unacceptable.

Member Jane Peirce chimed in on Wednesday to clarify she had simply called for the initial motion, as she as chair was allowed to do, and it is normal to propose a slate of candidates for officer positions.

“Having served as your chair for two years, I felt qualified to have an opinion about what a competent leadership team would look like, and that’s what I was proposing,” Peirce said. “I absolutely made an error when I didn’t allow the amendment. It was the heat of the moment and I made a mistake. There were four of you — anyone could have said, ‘Jane, point of order.’

“Dick,” she added, addressing Sheridan, “you’re the champion of that. You catch me every time I make a mistake.”

Sheridan mentioned he didn’t make a point of order at the March 8 meeting due to the heated discussion “and our clerk was very upset.” He thought a point of order would have exacerbated the situation. He also said he objected to Peirce criticizing Lussier at the March 8 meeting. Peirce had said Lussier had not gone above and beyond the expectations of board membership and had not displayed leadership skills during her time as clerk.

To appease Sheridan’s desire to revisit the reorganization vote at Wednesday’s meeting, Peirce made a motion to appoint Andrew Smith as vice chair and Lussier as clerk. Andrew Smith seconded the motion. The motion passed after only Lussier and Sheridan voted against it, but not before Lussier spoke.

Lussier said she understands the town has a roughly 200-year tradition of rotating officer positions and urged her colleagues to decide on a protocol for reorganization so that personal differences don’t interfere. She also said the Selectboard “is not a team” but rather five people individually elected by townspeople.

“For any one person to stand up and announce or proclaim who is worthy and who is not worthy was not only an insult to me, it was an insult to the voters who have twice elected me to this board,” she said.

Town Clerk Nancy Blackmer was granted permission to speak and said the Selectboard is the only public body in Orange that rotates its officers. Lussier objected to Blackmer making remarks and asked Chair Tom Smith if the public was allowed to comment at that time. Tom Smith said he permitted Blackmer to speak for clarification purposes.

Also appeasing Sheridan’s request, Andrew Smith then made a motion to appoint Lussier as clerk. Peirce seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

“I’m good at it,” Lussier said immediately before the vote. “I’ve been the clerk for two years now.”

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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