The Barton Selectboard chair has resigned from his role, citing disrespect from fellow officials, frustrations with financial decisions and a string of conflicts with residents throughout the year.
“You just feel that you’re dealing with a bunch of kids that want to spend more time dealing with pettiness than issues of the town,” Bob Croteau, the now ex-chair, said in an interview this week.
“I really felt that this board was dysfunctional,” he later said.
Croteau announced his plans at a meeting Nov. 19, saying he would remain a board member but had no interest in keeping the gavel.
Board member Toni Eubanks, elected in October, was chosen to fill the spot on a motion by board member Doug Swanson.
“I think that you’re available to the community, and that’s an asset to the community,” Swanson said of Eubanks.
Croteau’s decision to step down came after several months of public scrutiny, rifts between officials and contentious board meetings in this Orleans County town of just under 3,000 people.
In August, a resident accused board members of conflicts of interest and open-meeting law violations. Officials threw out at least one of that resident’s complaints two months later.
In September, a local business owner protested board members’ handling of a bid for winter road sand. The board initially accepted a late bid over one from the business owner that had met the deadline, drawing backlash.
Then, in October, another local businessman criticized Croteau for not coming to a special meeting to renew his business’ liquor license. Town Clerk Kristin Atwood claimed Croteau had refused to attend a special meeting for “businesses failing to do their jobs correctly.” Croteau said she put words in his mouth.
Around that time, Croteau said he believed past and present board members had tried to make him look bad by scheduling meetings when he’s at work or unavailable. And he said Atwood and residents who raised ethics complaints wanted to tarnish his reputation.
All those issues factored into Croteau’s resignation.
“They don’t care if I’m there; they don’t listen to me if I do make suggestions,” he said of other board members.
Croteau, who has been on the Selectboard for 30 years, said the chair historically had a better defined role and was included in more decisionmaking.
Now, “you’re never considered or inquired [on] things to put on the agenda,” he said.
He said he’s had reservations about how town money is spent and that Atwood hasn’t given him financial documents he’s requested. He thinks other board members have gone along too easily with the clerk’s preferences.
“They just think that Kristin can walk on water,” but some things “need a healthy dose of skepticism,” Croteau said.
Atwood denied withholding documents from Croteau and said that his requests have often been broad and come in at inconvenient times.
In response to his comment about her relationship with board members, she said that a positive dynamic between the clerk’s office and the board should be encouraged. She said she and Croteau had maintained a good relationship for a decade.
“I really regret that things have soured,” she said.
In interviews this week, Eubanks said she thought Croteau didn’t feel respected as chair when she heard his announcement.
“To tell you the truth, he’s right,” she said. “We start the meetings without him because he’s not there.”
Responding to Croteau’s comments, she said she cared a lot about what he has to say and that she and Swanson would work around his schedule when budget season comes.
“I very much respect his experience,” Eubanks said.
When asked about Croteau’s comment on the dynamic between Atwood and board members, Eubanks said she’s found the clerk helpful and believes the board will request and receive the financial documents Croteau wanted.
Going forward, the new chair has a simple goal.
“For us all to get along until town meeting,” she said, laughing. “I just want to get to Town Meeting Day with a good budget.”
For his part, Croteau said he will try to stay on the board.
“I’m going to continue doing the best I can,” he said. “You know the old saying, ‘When good people stop doing things, bad things happen?’ I don’t have any intention of stopping doing good things for the town.”
