5-member BOS on ballot, but recall question fate unclear

LEBANON - Lebanon voters already have one citizen's petition on the ballot, but whether they have two or not is still yet to be seen.

Corinna Cole successfully spearheaded a drive to get a referendum question on the ballot that would increase the number of town selectmen from three to five.

Cole believes a five-selectman board will give the town more representation and also build more experience within the board.

"There would be more opportunity for selectmen to be on the board more than one term," Cole said today.

She added that she doesn't think the cost would increase for taxpayers much, because the workload would be more distributed.

If voters approve the measure the 2017 town election would be looking to fill three selectman seats, she said. Terms would continue to be three years.

Meanwhile, earlier this month selectmen voted 2-1 against placing a recall ordinance on the ballot, with Selectmen Chairman Ben Thompson voting in favor of the ballot question and Selectmen Royce Heath and Paul Nadeau voting against.

The request to put the recall ordinance on the ballot was introduced by Budget Chair Jeri Basko.

Heath and Nadeau, by motion, said Basko was free to pursue a citizen's petition, however. That petition would need to have 217 signatures gathered by March 28 to have any chance of getting on the ballot.

Efforts to immediately reach Basko were unsuccessful.