Select Board member says he will not participate on two warrant articles, will attend town meeting as private citizen

During Select Board announcements, a member said he is conflicted on two articles on the upcoming annual town meeting warrant and will not participate in board actions on those articles.

“From this point forward, I'm not going to participate except as a private citizen,” said Select Board member Tom Dixon. Dixon said he had been advised it was acceptable for him to refrain from participating now that the board had adopted the warrant. He added that at the town meeting he will sit in the audience and that Select Board member Matt Fay could perform the minimal chair duties Dixon would otherwise have undertaken.

Dixon introduced the matter during the Select Board’s announcements and described his decision as a personal conflict on two warrant articles. The board recorded no formal vote or replacement of the chair during the meeting; Dixon’s statement was presented as an announcement of his intended course of action for the town meeting.

The Select Board did not elaborate on the nature of the conflict during the session, and no further documentation or recusals were recorded in the meeting minutes that were approved later in the agenda.