Posted on: Thursday, January 9, 2020
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — After the Transcript went to press on Wednesday afternoon, the newspaper learned that a second member of the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) intends to resign after tonight’s ZBA meeting.
In a letter dated December 27, 2019 that was submitted to the Town Clerk’s office and Select Board’s office on January 8, 2020 after 2 p.m., ZBA member Joseph Keyes indicated that he is taking this action at the close of the January 9 meeting in protest to what transpired at a Select Board meeting last month.
Keyes has served on the ZBA since his appointment as an associate member in 1999. He was appointed to full membership in 2006.
Also resigning, effective Friday, January 10, is current ZBA Chairman James Demetri, who has served as a full member of the ZBA since 1998. He was re-appointed by the Select Board 5-0 on December 16. (See related story.)
Both Keyes and Demetri are resigning in protest over how the Select Board handled its appointments to the board on December 16.
Keyes’ letter states, in part: “I am resigning as a result of what transpired at the last meeting of the Select Board regarding the reappointment of Mr. James Demetri and Mr. Paul O’Leary…”
He continues: “…As a volunteer, I do not consider my appointment a political matter. I am either appointed or I am not. If I am not going to be reappointed, it should not come as a surprise to me, the chairman of that board, and especially to the members of the Select Board mid-meeting. What transpired should be a reminder of how NOT to run a public meeting. It is not my intention to resign based on who was or was not re-appointed, but in the way that it was done. I wish the new member and remaining current members only the best of luck in their future endeavors.”
The Transcript has posted links to both letters of resignation but with their personal contact information redacted from the copy.
