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Seymour emergency management director resigns, cites public scrutiny over stipend
Summary
The town emergency management director announced his immediate resignation at the selectpersons meeting, saying public statements and inquiries by a selectperson had politicized his role; he also listed grant funding and flood‑response accomplishments.
Chris (identified in the transcript as Chris Edwards) announced his immediate resignation as Seymour’s emergency management director during the public comment period, saying comments and inquiries from Select Woman Teresa Conroy had left him “feeling deeply disrespected and politically targeted.”
In a prepared statement he said the behavior “borders on harassment” and has caused undue stress for his family. He emphasized programmatic accomplishments during his tenure, saying he secured “nearly $25,000 in state grants” that funded a shelter trailer, reduced equipment costs and cut his EMD budget by about 45% in the prior year. “This resignation is not about a $20,000 stipend increase,” he said; he described the decision as a response to what he called politicization of public service.
Board members responded to the resignation in later discussion: the first selectperson said he would speak with the director and did not immediately accept the resignation, and other selectpersons thanked the director for his flood recovery work. Select Woman Teresa Conroy had earlier publicly questioned the stipend process in a letter; board members debated that budget process and whether the stipend increase had been handled transparently.
No personnel action (hire or formal acceptance of resignation) was recorded that night; board members said they would follow up with the director directly.
