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Residents urge Seymour selectboard not to accept emergency management director’s resignation
Summary
Dozens of residents and local business owners told the Seymour selectboard they support Emergency Management Director Chris Edwards and urged the board to reject his resignation, citing his flood response work and assistance securing FEMA and state grants; the board asked HR to brief members and took no personnel action that night.
Dozens of Seymour residents urged the selectboard on Monday to keep Chris Edwards in his post as the town’s emergency management director, citing his role coordinating recovery after an August flood and helping businesses and homeowners access FEMA, SBA and state grants.
“Imagine earning $27.39 per day to ensure the safety of thousands of visitors,” said John Hen III, a 14‑year Seymour firefighter, summarizing the stipend math and asking the board to reject Edwards’s resignation. Multiple speakers recounted Edwards’s presence during and after the flood, his help with paperwork and repeated personal check‑ins with affected residents and businesses.
Why it matters: Edwards’s duties include emergency response coordination during disasters and ongoing planning for town events. Commentators — including small business owners and longtime residents — argued the position’s responsibilities exceed the stipend that had been proposed and urged the board to treat the matter as a personnel‑process question rather than a political dispute.
Local business owners described direct assistance. “Chris was there…he guided us through the process of working with FEMA, the SBA, and even bringing the representatives of those agencies directly to us,” said Melissa Allen of Allen’s Plumbing Supply, who said Edwards visited her business regularly and helped secure a state grant. Edward Zhall, owner of Valley Coins of Seabore, said Edwards provided paperwork, PPE and daily assistance while he worked 18 hours a day salvaging his shop.
Board response and next steps: Selectperson Teresa Conroy told residents she relied on the town’s human‑resources director and on the board of finance when the stipend was proposed and defended the process by which the position’s pay was reviewed. Selectperson Tracy Rappa — who sits on the board of finance as an alternate — said the stipend recommendation came from HR and the board of finance and was not politically motivated. The board did not accept any resignation or take formal personnel action that evening.
Several selectpersons asked for further review: they requested a joint meeting with the board of finance, and the board agreed to ask the town’s HR director to appear at the next meeting to explain how the stipend figure was determined. First Select Woman Draonus noted that if discussion focused on the individual, Connecticut statute would give the employee the right to have that portion of the meeting in executive session unless the employee agrees otherwise.
Context and constraints: The stipend referenced in the discussion was budgeted at $10,000 for the coming year; selectboard members emphasized the difference between evaluating a position and taking action against an individual. No motion to accept Edwards’s resignation was made, and the board signaled it would take public testimony into account while seeking HR’s explanation of the stipend proposal.
What’s next: The board agreed to place the EMD position discussion on a future agenda, request the HR director’s explanation of the stipend recommendation, and consider a joint meeting with the board of finance. No decision on Edwards’s employment was recorded at the meeting.
