GEORGETOWN – After serving on the town’s Conservation Commission (ConCom) for more than a decade, the SelectBoard declined last week to reappoint the veteran chair Rachel Therrien to the commission.
It was the second consecutive ConCom chair that has been removed by the SelectBoard with no explanation. ConCom Chair Chris Candia was not reappointed in 2024. Carl Shreder, who served more than 20 years, said he was pushed off the commission by town officials, including then SelectBoard Chair Amy Smith and Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco.
The failure on a vote of four to zero with one abstention to reappoint Therrien comes at a time when the ComCom has a temporary, part-time agent, after Pacheco fired Michele Grenier in March. Grenier is now preparing to sue the town for wrongful termination.
The SelectBoard reappointed Ida Wye to a second term on the ConCom, despite criticism from other commissioners that she was absent for about half the meetings and did not attend the SelectBoard meeting on her re-appointment. It also appointed Smith, who has not served on the ConCom, and once proposed that the poison ivy in the community gardens be burned. That proposal was rejected by then Chair Shedder and then Vice Chair Therrien because it would cause respiratory distress for anyone breathing the smoke.
Smith, who chairs the town’s historical commission, also did not attend the SelectBoard meeting last week.
Shreder lamented the SelectBoard’s decision not to reappoint Therrien, whom he had mentored and served with for years.
“The ConCom is in a very difficult situation without a permanent agent or admin staff and little knowledge of the hearing process or types of filings or the actual mission of the Conservation Commission under the Wetlands Protection Act,” Shreder said. “There is little knowledge left about the various filings and or town properties, the ConCom has responsibilities for. ”
Vice Chair Amy Graffum and Tom Howland have served several years on the commission. Wye has extensive agricultural experience in addition to three years on the commission. Most other members are new or are in their first term.
Therrien, as a SelectBoard member until this spring, was a frequent critic of Pacheco’s job performance and demeanor towards her and other members of the ConCom. She gave him a low rating on his most recent job performance.
SelectBoard chair Doug Dawes, who voted against Therrien, said, “It was my call,” not to allow her to address the board, although she was in attendance. It is standard practice to invite the candidate under consideration for appointment to speak, although there is no formal policy, as Dawes pointed out.
“I wanted as little controversy as possible,” Dawes said. “There’s enough of that to go around these days.”
Dawes wrote that he cast his no vote because “the Conservation Commission has experienced significant controversy over the years. I believe this is an appropriate time for the Commission to move in a different direction, rebuild public confidence and focus on its important responsibilities.”
The chair did not elaborate or explain what controversies he referred to.
“The ConCom has been well run and had few controversies. My perception is that the ConCom has the public’s confidence and works well with the state Department of Environmental Protection,” Therrien said.
“The only controversies I know of were generated by people who want to dismantle and control the Commission,” Therrien said.
The ConCom, working with the state DEP, regulates residential and commercial activities and construction near waterways and wetlands and protects endangered species.
Ms. Therrien wanted to address the board. “I love the Conservation Commission and its work protecting the town’s wetlands and endangered species. I hate that those who want to destroy our wetlands have won this round.”
Other board members, Laura Repplier and Ed Dobie, who moved to reappoint Therrien, voted against her and did not speak at the hearing. They also did not respond to questions from The Town Common, including whether the vote was pre-determined or the subject of pressure.
Dobie did not respond to a question about why he abstained or if he was asked in advance to vote against her. Repplier, who served with Therrien on the SelectBoard and ConCom, did not respond to the question of why she voted against Therrien or if she was asked by someone to vote no.
Hoover said, “No one asked me to not reappoint Rachel. That was my decision.”
Holding several pages of paper, Selectman Michael Donahue, a frequent critic of Therrien, asked to speak about her reappointment, but Dawes told him to limit his comments to the motion. He put down his papers and said he was ready to vote.
In the past, Donahue submitted a 1,300-word complaint to the SelectBoard against her. The SelectBoard considered Donahue’s complaint, but took no action. Town counsel KP Law opined that the complaint was only Donahue’s opinion.
Therrien is on the witness list against Donahue in his suit against resident Kim Fair for calling him a “homophobe” on FaceBook.
