Mask-less meetings ruffle Richmond officials, prompting resignation

Mar. 20—RICHMOND — A longtime member of the Richmond Planning Board has resigned, and another official may step down, citing health concerns over what they say is poor adherence to COVID-19 safety protocols at public meetings.

Both of them, and another Richmond official, claim the selectboard has created a dangerous environment at those meetings by not requiring attendees to wear masks, presiding over some sessions unmasked and never having allowed people to watch remotely.

Ludger "Butch" Morin resigned his post as an alternate planning board member last November because several officials at board meetings refused to wear masks, he said Thursday. Morin, 70, said he joined the board in 1987 and has since served as its chairman, vice chairman and, in recent years, as an alternate member.

In addition, two members of the zoning board of adjustment have stopped attending meetings, worried that they would otherwise risk exposure to the coronavirus. One of them, Vice Chairman Larry Richardson, said he is "on the brink" of resigning.

After holding meetings last summer at the Richmond Pavilion, an outdoor space behind the fire station, the planning board returned to its typical venue at Veterans' Memorial Hall on Route 32 in September.

Morin said he suggested moving planning board meetings from the hall's kitchen to its main room, a much larger space, to help members avoid close contact with each other. Land use officials approved that change ahead of the board's Oct. 20 meeting, according to Land Use Assistant Kim Mattson.

Despite the new location, Morin said he was concerned that Douglas Bersaw, the selectboard's representative on the planning board, did not wear a mask at that session. Morin said two planning board members, whom he declined to identify by name, joined Bersaw in not wearing masks at a Nov. 10 meeting.

Worried for his health, Morin resigned.

"If you don't wear a mask, you're disrespecting me," he said. "If you listen to all the experts ... that's the minimal thing you can actually do to help stifle this virus."

Concerns over a lack of mask-wearing at Richmond public meetings prompted an inquiry from state officials earlier this year.

After fielding a complaint from state Rep. Jennie Gomarlo, a Swanzey Democrat whose district includes Richmond, the N.H. Attorney General's Office concluded in January that Richmond selectboard meetings did not violate a Nov. 19 state order requiring mask-wearing in public spaces. Associate Attorney General Anne Edwards found that despite not wearing masks during their meetings, Richmond selectboard members were complying with the order by maintaining physical distancing.

Town Administrator Susan Harrington said Feb. 1 that she informed Edwards during the inquiry that two members of the three-person selectboard have health issues that make it difficult for them to wear a mask and that the third member chooses not to wear one. (The state order has an exception for people with a medical condition or disability that prevents wearing a mask.)

Selectboard Chairman Bill Daniels, who identified himself as the board member without a medical condition that prevents him from wearing a mask, told The Sentinel last month that he was willing to cover his face if residents feel unsafe.

"If they're that upset about our decision to not wear one ... I will do it just to keep people happy," he said.

The board's current composition is the same as it was last year, after incumbent Andrew Wallace won re-election earlier this month.

Bersaw did not respond to multiple requests for comment this week.

Lobbying for livestreams

Morin said he is not sure he would return to the planning board even if Richmond allows town officials to attend meetings remotely.

"I think I've put my time in," he said. "... I would've [stayed] if they had done that to begin with."

Mattson, who leads the land use department, said Morin informed her of his resignation in a Nov. 17 email. Morin's departure was a blow to the planning board because of his rich institutional knowledge, having been on the board for more than three decades, according to Mattson.

"Losing him was really difficult because he has such history with the town," she said. "... Butch was one of those guys who created consistency in the zoning ordinances' enforcement."

Mattson said the planning board has not yet filled Morin's seat, an appointed role, in the hope that he will return if members can participate remotely.

She said she has been lobbying the selectboard since last July to allow remote attendance by officials at meetings. Livestreaming the sessions, according to Mattson, would help ensure that a quorum of board members is present and would also include more voices in group discussions.

"It's hard when the same five or six members show up," she said.

Harrington, the town administrator, said last month that town officials were considering whether to stream selectboard meetings after multiple residents requested a remote-viewing option. She said Thursday that Richmond still had not set up that technology, however.

Mattson said that while the planning and zoning boards do not need selectboard approval to livestream their meetings at Veterans' Memorial Hall, the building does not currently have an Internet network to host a stream. She added that selectboard members could establish a network for a small monthly fee but have been negotiating with the Internet provider to get that service for free.

Wallace, the selectboard member who Harrington said is responsible for exploring remote-viewing options, did not respond to multiple requests for more information this week.

'It's simply unsafe'

Other Richmond officials have stopped attending public meetings over the past year, saying the town's public health protocols at those sessions are too lenient.

Richardson, the zoning board's vice chairman, has not been at any of the board's three meetings held since the pandemic began last spring.

Richardson, 70, said he has a compromised immune system that makes COVID-19 particularly dangerous to him. Although the zoning board meetings on a controversial cell tower proposal were held outdoors at the Richmond Pavilion last summer, he was concerned that town officials did not require attendees to wear masks and also felt there would not be adequate physical distancing.

"I wasn't going to risk my health over a foolish cell tower that the town had gotten along without for 250 years," he said Thursday.

Richardson criticized selectboard members for not taking steps to let other officials stream their meetings, arguing that the selectboard has endangered volunteer board members as well as residents seeking approval for any projects and has also effectively blocked anyone with COVID-19 from viewing the proceedings.

Richardson added that he would have "gladly attended" meetings held via Zoom but said he doubts the selectboard will make that technology available. The situation has also deterred him from going to planning board meetings that he would have liked to watch, he said.

"Anybody should be able to feel safe," he said. "I don't feel that Richmond ... has given the public a safe venue to attend."

Alternate zoning board member Jean Tandy also stopped going to meetings last spring due to COVID-related concerns.

Tandy, 89, said she was "too old" to be indoors with unmasked people and risk contracting COVID-19. Like Richardson, she criticized selectboard members for not establishing stricter public health requirements.

"It's simply unsafe," she said. "We're living in a pandemic, and all people should respect that — especially town leaders."

Tandy, who said she has not yet been inoculated but intends to get a vaccine soon, said she would return to zoning board meetings if everyone is wearing a mask or if she can watch the proceedings remotely.

Richardson, who has received one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and said he is scheduled to get the second next month, said he would also consider attending a board meeting at Veterans' Memorial Hall if it is sparsely attended and people adhere to public health guidance. But without assurance that masks will be worn universally, and worried that larger turnout would prevent physical distancing, Richardson may step away.

"If I've got to fight tooth and nail for my own safety to continue going to zoning board meetings, forget it," he said. "I'll quit."

Caleb Symons can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1420, or csymons@keenesentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @CalebSymonsKS.