By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
NEWPORT, N.H. — The Newport Board of Selectmen is accepting applications for a seat on the board left vacant after Bert Spaulding resigned following the meeting on Oct. 21.
According to Town Manager Kyle Harris, Spaulding submitted his resignation through a handwritten note and did not say why he was leaving the board.
“The meeting was over and he resigned,” Harris said. “He didn’t give me a specific reason.”
When Selectman Jeff Kessler announced that the board was looking for a new selectman during the Nov. 4 meeting of the board of selectmen, Spaulding was in the front row listening to the announcement. He left the meeting moments after the announcement was made.
“We are accepting interested parties to submit their names to the town manager,” Selectman Kessler said at the Nov. 4 meeting. “We will consider the candidates at the next meeting, Nov. 18. We will have our fourth member here and make a decision at that time. If anyone is interested in serving on the board of selectmen until May, get your name to the town manager or his office.”
It was a brief announcement by Kessler with no discussion by the board, and Spaulding did not make any comment on the subject. Throughout the Nov. 4 meeting, Spaulding was sitting front and center, giving input on various items including the rising sewer rates prior to the announcement by Kessler that the board was seeking a new member.
Harris said it is recommended to advertise for a “significant period of time,” which is up to interpretation. While there is no specific time, he hopes that they will have a replacement at their next meeting. The advertisement went up on Oct. 25 and the town has already received interest in the position. Interviews will take place on Nov. 18.
Spaulding’s town government email address was no longer functioning and a phone number associated with him was no longer in service. Harris did not have a phone number to provide for Spaulding.
The vacancy was for a member in the first year of 3-year term. The selectboard will fill the seat until May, and then the two remaining years of that term will be up for election.
