Gordon St. Hilaire has resigned from the Williston Selectboard, after pleading not guilty on Dec.1 to charges that he stalked his ex-girlfriend and vandalized her car.
St. Hilaire, who taught grades five and six at Camels Hump Middle School in Richmond, also resigned his teaching position on Dec. 2, John Alberghini, superintendent of the Mt. Mansfield Unified Union School District, confirmed Wednesday.
On Tuesday night, the Williston Selectboard decided that St. Hilaire’s seat on the five-member board will remain vacant until Town Meeting Day in March, according to its chair, Terry Macaig.
“It’s so close to election time and it would take us until — at least until — the middle of or late January to appoint a new person,” he said. “So we decided last night not to appoint anybody but we’ll wait for the election to happen.” Given that the board needs three votes to take action, Macaig said he does not foresee any issues conducting business with four members in the interim.
St. Hilaire, 49, is accused of letting the air out of his ex-girlfriend’s tires six times at her workplace, beginning in October. The woman reported him to the police. He pleaded not guilty to charges of stalking and unlawful mischief.
He also allegedly asked a Williston police sergeant to look up a license plate belonging to a man he thought was seeing his ex-girlfriend, but the sergeant denied the request, according to a police affidavit. St. Hilaire is not facing charges for that incident.
St. Hilaire, who first ran for the town’s selectboard unopposed in 2019, did not immediately respond to a call nor an email requesting comment. His three-year term would have run until 2024.
Macaig read St. Hilaire’s brief resignation letter at a Dec. 13 selectboard meeting. “I consider my service to the Town of Williston an honor and have enjoyed my time on the board,” St. Hilaire wrote in the letter. “It has been a pleasure to work with the Williston community.”
Macaig had previously told VTDigger he saw no reason for St. Hilaire to resign, saying, “He’s innocent until proven guilty.”
As part of the court-imposed conditions for his release, St. Hilaire must avoid contact with the alleged victim and her workplace.
If convicted for the charge of stalking, he could face a maximum penalty of two years in prison and/or a maximum fine of $5,000. For the charge of unlawful mischief, he could, if convicted, face a maximum penalty of a year in prison and/or a maximum fine of $1,000, according to court documents.
