The Board of Selectmen have only two items on their agenda for next Monday, February 14 at Lawrence Memorial Hall—Vote to reconsider Police Chief’s Contract and an Executive Session.
At the last meeting of the Board of Selectmen, Selectmen Archible, Barry, and Elstein voted not to reconsider their decision not to renew Police Chief Fox’s contract despite pleas from a packed Lawrence Memorial Hall auditorium to do otherwise.
However, Selectman Bill Barnett will be out of town for that meeting, but told Belchertown-News.com that he is looking into an emergency meeting of the board, which he says will be posted on Friday if such a meeting will occur.
But later Board of Selectmen Chairman Ronald Aponte said that the Attorney General’s Office said that contract negotiations are not a valid reason to hold an Emergency Session. Therefore, the next meeting will likely be without Barnett who was one of the two selectmen who supported Chief Fox.
Selectman Archie Archible said that he had met with Chief Fox on Thursday. “We talked in-depth about some things that I thought weren’t right…I think that we’ve straightened everything out…It looks good…I think we can come to terms,” said Archible.
Archible also said that he wants to do what is right for the town. “It appears that the people want Fran and I’m going to do everything in my power to get Fran,” he said.
There have been previous reports from other news sources and Belchertown-News.com that plans for a recall of the three board members are currently in the works.
Today, only Belchertown-News.com was present late this afternoon when Paul Anziano pulled official papers to collect the required 500 signatures to recall each of the board members who did not vote in favor of the Chief.
“After attending the meeting….I didn’t understand why the selectmen didn’t vote to reconsider the Chief’s contract…We felt that the only step we could take at this point is to see if the people still want them representing the community,” said Anziano.
Not only does Anziano feel that the board isn’t listening to the will of the community, he also believes that Chief Fox is a good Chief of Police and is community oriented.
“I think the Chief’s done a very good job with our police department…he’s done a lot of innovative things like the k-9 that has been very successful….He’s accessible…I think he’s an all-around good person and does a good job,” said Anziano.
Anziano also said that he will dispense of his recall efforts if the board changes its stance on Chief Fox.
Archible submitted to Belchertown-News.com that his decision to reconsider Fox’s contract is not a result of the recall plan. “The recall has not influenced me whatsoever,” said Archible.
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