Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols says he will run for the open seat on the New Sharon Board of Selectmen.
If successful, he would join his wife as a member of the three-person board.
Last month, the only board member with more than a year of experience resigned, and Nichols said as someone with government experience, he would like to run to address worries about the loss of experience.
“There’s been a lot of concern lately about the loss of senior members of the board, which is totally understandable. However, I want to calm concerns by adding my abilities to an already capable board,” he said.
The election will be held at a special town meeting at 9 a.m. on April 18 at the Cape Cod Hill School on Cape Cod Hill Road.
Nichols’ wife, Lorna Nichols, was elected to a full three-year term on the board at the 2014 town meeting.
The person elected at the special town meeting will have a one-year term to fill the seat left open when former Selectman Forrest Bonney resigned. Bonney said that he was resigning because Maynard Webster, the longtime chairman of the board, was not re-elected at the March annual town meeting. Residents at the March 7 town meeting voted 127-83 to elect political newcomer Travis Pond over Webster, who had been on the board for 38 years.
Bonney said that after Webster was not re-elected, the board was made up of members, including himself, who lack the experience to effectively pick up the duties that Webster performed. Bonney said Webster took on a number of roles in town government, such as filling responsibilities normally assigned to a town manager or administrator and performing tax assessment work.
Nichols said Monday that he had followed the news about Bonney’s resignation and the concerns people had about the board. He said he is familiar with local government and hopes that if he is elected, he will ease concerns about the board transitioning.
He said after consulting with the Maine Municipal Association, he was told there were no conflicts either from his current position as sheriff or from his wife being one of the other two members on the board.
Nichols said he and his wife are not afraid to disagree on issues, and if both of them were on the board, it should not cause problems.
“I’m not going to be just a rubber stamp for her, and she’s not going to be a rubber stamp for me,” he said.
Town Clerk Susan Anneley said that nominations are taken from the floor, and she won’t know until the special town meeting if anyone else is running.
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