Epsom residents conveyed some serious discontent on Election Day, Tuesday, March 13, by soundly approving several warrant articles asking to limit the authority of selectmen, who’ve been embroiled in controversy since last fall’s firing of popular road agent Gordon Ellis.

Ellis, meanwhile, was overwhelmingly elected to return as road agent, collecting 869 votes, compared to the 236 votes cast for challenger Leonard Gilman Jr.

“I thank the people of Epsom for their support. It’s humbling,” said Ellis. “The townspeople decided to take the town back, and I think they effectively did that.”

By a 698-369 vote, residents approved a petitioned warrant article that will give the authority to draw from the town’s hefty road reconstruction fund to the road agent, rather than selectmen. By a 560-401 vote, residents also passed a petitioned request to reduce membership on the governing board from five to three. The change means all three selectman seats will be up for election next year.

Results also weren’t sunny for returning selectmen Peter Bosiak, Joni Kitson and Bob McKechnie. Legally nonbinding warrant articles, submitted by petition, calling for their removal for alleged “conduct unbecoming a selectman,” were overwhelmingly passed.

Voters asked to remove Bosiak by a 718-301 vote, Kitson by a 774-247 vote and McKechnie by an 812-219 vote. Incumbent selectmen Mary Frambach and Don Weaver, meanwhile, lost bids for re-election.

“This should be an eye-opener,” said Ellis. “We’ll see what happens now.”

John Klose and Joanne Randall beat four other candidates for the two open selectman seats.

Other articles

Two $50,000 town requests related to town office space were shot down. One asked to use the money for engineering fees for designing new town offices at the location of the new town library and the recently relocated historic Epsom meeting house.

The other proposed the money to construct, renovate, or buy land for, new town offices. The town’s current $23,000 annual lease for office space on Blackhall Road is set to expire in a few years.

Voters did support several fire department requests, including spending $26,775 to refurbish a 1993 fire truck, spending $171,000 for a replacement ambulance.

For the third straight year, voters rejected the town’s overall operating budget, giving the town a default budget that’s about $70,000 lighter than what was proposed. The budget failed 473-612.

School vote

Voters were much friendlier on the school side of the ballot, approving a teacher contract similar to the one they rejected last year.

By a 667-456 vote, residents OK’d the contract for Epsom Central School teachers, which calls for about $600,000 more over the next four years. Voters also defied the trend in the last few years as they passed the school district’s operating budget. The $7,359,125 school budget passed 695-432. By a slim 555-564 vote, a $67,320 request to fund bus transportation for Epsom’s public high school students to Pembroke Academy was denied.