BY SUSAN CLARK

Stating that newly appointed Town Councilor Bill Jean should not have voted to settle a lawsuit, resident Bill Greiner filed a motion to void the agreement and intervene.

The motion, filed in Hillsborough Superior Court on Monday, Oct. 15, is in response to the Town Council’s 5-2 vote to settle a lawsuit by resident Roy Stewart, thus paying him no more than $2,000 in legal fees.

“By Jean voting yes, by default, he keeps his job on the council. He should not have voted because it was a conflict of interest,” said Greiner, a former town councilor.

Greiner said he doesn’t think Jean intended to prejudice the process, but may not have been properly advised before voting.

If the court agrees with Greiner, he has 10 days to obtain 10 voter signatures to seek a judicial review of the Town Charter.

The council voted to settle the lawsuit at its Oct. 10 meeting, with two of the seven councilors – Michael Scanlon and Kevin Keyes – against the settlement agreement saying it would set a bad precedent for others to sue the town if they disagreed with any of the board’s actions.

“I view this as a payoff to Roy Stewart. I want people to realize we are paying Roy Stewart $2,000 for his decision to sue the town over what is absolutely a frivilous and unneeded attempt to hand-pick who he felt he wanted to sit on this council,” said Keyes.

He said the framers of the Town Charter were wise to design it so the simple majority of a few people could not force their opinions on important matters.

Jean said he agreed with Councilors Norm Longval, Bob Young, Mike Izbicki and Chairman Paul Roy to settle the suit because it ensures that the town would not incur further expenses in the case. Jean will fill the seat until the March elections.

Filling the vacant seat was necessary after Bill Van Anglen resigned from the Town Council on May 8 citing increased job responsibilities. The council invited residents to file for the seat and four people stepped forward – Ryk Bullock, Dave Danielson, Alan Seidman and Ken Peterson.

After three meetings, the council still could not agree on a replacement and Stewart, president of the Bedford Taxpayers Association, stepped in by taking the matter to Superior Court.

In his June 27 petition, Stewart said by voting 4-2, the council should have appointed Danielson, a former councilor. He contends that the council did not follow the Town Charter, which states an appointment must be made at the council’s next meeting following a resignation and by a majority vote of five councilors.

“It wasn’t a preference. They had four votes for Danielson that should have been enough to appoint him,” said Stewart. “It was the majority.”

That’s where the council and Stewart disagree.

“A super-majority of five was required to fill a vacancy, to hire a town manager and put the town into debt, etc.,” said Keyes. “Mr. Stewart’s contention that a majority of five could be interpreted as just five people sitting here is ridiculous. That means three people could vote and prevail.”

Scanlon said the council took care of business, even though it may have seemed the appointment was not moving forward.

The council addressed filling the vacancy, taking all councilors’ suggestions into account before making an appointment.

“We found the ideal candidate that all six of us felt was the perfect person,” said Keyes.

By agreeing to the settlement, Stewart accepts Jean’s appointment and would be paid up to $2,000 in legal fees up to July 25 when Jean filled the vacant seat. In turn, the council agrees to form a subcommittee no later than January 2008 to consider revisions to specified sections the Town Charter relating to appointments, adopting emergency ordinances, matters relating to the town manager and the authority to incur debt on the town’s behalf.

In the past, the Town Council has discussed updating and clarifying the Town Charter, especially those areas mentioned in the settlement agreement.

Also coming into question is Stewart’s relationship with Longval – a member of the BTA – and Young, Roy and Izbicki.

Stewart said his standing with the Bedford Taxpayers Association has no bearing in the case.

“That’s one of the reasons we settled, to stop the clock,” he said. “We didn’t want it to continue, continue, continue, and whoever gets the ruling would have appealed. It could have gone on past March and cost the town more money.”