DIXFIELD — The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted Monday to take no action on a complaint made against Planning Board member Lauren Hebert.
The vote followed an executive session on resident Donald Lutick’s official complaint this month that alleged Hebert is biased against wind development in town and shouldn’t be editing the Wind Energy Facility Ordinance.
The Planning Board is revising the ordinance, after voters rejected it in June.
Hebert defended himself at the Sept. 14 board meeting, saying his opinions on wind development were protected under the First Amendment, and that it would “not be ethical governance” to punish him for stating his opinions.
In other business Monday evening, selectmen discussed adding to its Code of Ethics Policy a section on how to handle violations.
Town Manager Carlo Puiia suggested the first step be to “informally address” any issues one selectman may have with another.
“The best bet for solving an issue between selectmen is by dealing with it one-on-one,” he said. “However, if the violation that a selectman committed was so severe that it can’t be handled in an informal manner, then the next step would be for a board member to call for an executive session to address the complaint that they’re filing against the other member.”
Puiia said if there was no resolution, the board member could file a handwritten, formal complaint against the person accused of violating the policy.
“The person who committed the violation could receive a letter of reprimand, or a request for a letter of resignation, depending on what the board decides,” Puiia said.
However, Puiia pointed out that with a five-person board, a vote could be problematic.
“If the person filing the complaint can’t vote, and the person having the complaint filed against them can’t vote either, you’re down to three people,” Puiia said. “You don’t want to have these decisions being made by a 2-1 vote.”
Chairman Hart Daley said he agreed with addressing violations in an informal manner first.
Puiia will continue work on the violation section of the policy.
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