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Charlestown council sworn in; Deborah A. Carney elected council president, Rippy Sarah elected vice president
Summary
At a Dec. 2, 2024 special meeting, Charlestown councilors were sworn in and unanimously elected Deborah A. Carney as council president and Councilor Rippy Sarah as vice president; the meeting included short inaugural remarks and adjourned the same evening.
Charlestown town councilors took the oath of office and organized leadership at a special meeting on Dec. 2, 2024.
Town Clerk Amy Rose Weinrich opened the meeting at 6:00 p.m., administered the oath of office to the newly elected council members and read the charter provision governing selection of council officers. The clerk told the council that the Board of Canvassers certified the Nov. 5, 2024 election results on Nov. 25, 2024 and read vote totals recorded in the transcript: the highest vote-getter was listed as "Richard/Ricky Sarah" with 2,648 votes and the next highest as Deborah A. Carney with 2,643 votes. According to the transcript the highest vote-getter declined the council presidency and Carney accepted.
Following the clerk’s reading of the rules set out in Article 6, Section C21 of the Town Charter, a motion to elect Deborah A. Carney as council president was made and seconded. The council voted in favor without recorded opposition; the motion carried unanimously. After being elected, Carney thanked voters and town staff: "I would just like to say thank you to the voters of Charlestown. I appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve, and I'm humbled and grateful for your support," she said.
The council then turned to the vice presidency. The councilor identified in the transcript as the top vote-getter accepted the vice presidency. A motion to elect that councilor as vice president was made by Councilor Steven J. Stokes and seconded by Councilor Peter A. Sloan; the motion passed by a unanimous 5–0 vote.
New councilors offered brief inaugural remarks. Craig T. Marr said he was "very excited to work with" the returning members and thanked town staff. Councilor Rippy Sarah thanked voters, Clerk Weinrich and Town Administrator Jeffrey Allen and said he looks forward to serving another two-year term. Peter A. Sloan thanked voters and town workers and referenced prior appointment to the council; Steven J. Stokes emphasized voter participation and said he was humbled by re-election.
The meeting concluded with light refreshments noted by the clerk and a motion to adjourn that was approved by the council.
The clerk and staff in attendance included Town Administrator Jeffrey Allen and Town Solicitor Wyatt Brochu. The transcript includes inconsistent spellings of several councilors’ names across segments; where the transcript shows variants, this article follows the names as they are most consistently recorded in the meeting record.
