Select Board is full; manager search begins; but Waterbury still seeks a clerk/treasurer
April 20, 2026 | By Lisa Scagliotti The Waterbury Select Board is back up to five members with the appointment of Evan Hoffman at its last meeting, where the board took multiple actions towards filling more openings in town government.
April snow blankets daffodils at the Waterbury town offices. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti
The select board decided to move ahead to contract with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns on the process to recruit and hire a new town manager. The draft timeline aims for making a hire this summer. The detailed proposal and schedule are posted on the select board’s April 7 meeting page. The contract cost is listed as $15,100 to $18,900, depending on some variable costs around advertising and the interview process.
The board interviewed and made appointments to multiple town boards and commissions and the regional planning commission, filling positions that come open as part of their regular cycle this time of year. Those appointments are listed below.
The board also confirmed that the positions of town clerk and treasurer are officially available to be filled by appointment until next year’s March election.
Select Board appointment
The board began by hearing from both Hoffman and Chris Viens, the two applicants for the select board vacancy. Both were candidates in competitive races for select board seats in the recent Town Meeting Day election.
With 605 votes, Hoffman came in third in a three-way race for the board’s two one-year seats. Martha Staskus and Sandy Sabin were both elected in that contest with 907 and 731 votes, respectively.
Viens was a contender for a three-year seat on the board and received 589 votes; Don Schneider won the seat with 851 votes.
Evan Hoffman was appointed to the Waterbury Select Board to serve through next Town Meeting Day. Courtesy photo
The board seat to be filled by appointment came open after the election as former Vice Chair Kane Sweeney stepped down from his position after Town Meeting, citing potential conflicts of interest he may have due to a new job he recently began with the labor union now representing Waterbury municipal employees.
Sabin did not participate in the candidate interviews or the resulting deliberations and vote. She recused herself, noting her personal connection to Viens, who is her brother-in-law.
Board Chair Stauskas asked both candidates to briefly summarize their interest in being appointed. Hoffman went first, pointing out that at age 29, he represents a younger generation than the other board members and Viens. He noted that the board’s previous chair and vice chair, Alyssa Johnson and Sweeney, were “powerful voices” for his generation, but both moved on from the board just last month. “I was looking forward to serving with them but I’m also looking forward to continuing some of their work in terms of affordability, housing and what it is that draws more young people to this town,” he said.
Asked about decision-making, Hoffman said he tends to research issues in detail, recalling a project he voluntarily presented to the board last summer that delved into 60 years of Town Meeting Day data. He said that led to his interest in serving on the new Town Meeting Day Study Committee that’s charged with making recommendations later this year to possibly improve participation in future Town Meetings.
As for housing and ongoing efforts the board is considering, Hoffman said he thinks it’s important for town government to help encourage development of more housing to both keep and attract residents to Waterbury. “Most of the people I went to high school with went to college and never came back,” he said.
The board has not yet moved ahead to contract with a developer interested in designing housing for the former state Stanley-Wasson halls property near Randall Street, but Hoffman said he supports having the interested firm, DEW Construction, prepare a proposal to create housing while addressing community concerns, primarily that the site is in a flood zone.
In his remarks, Viens recalled his past experiences that got him involved in town government, including advocating for trimming back proposals for new fire stations nearly two decades ago. Since then, he served on the select board for 11 years up until 2023, including several years as board chair. Now, like then, he said his focus would be on keeping town government running efficiently to give taxpayers the best value. He said he’s motivated by seeing too many longtime residents struggling to afford their homes and property taxes.
“To keep people in their homes — that’s my number-one goal,” Viens said. “I care about all people in this town. Everybody. Whether you think I do or not.”
Staskus asked Viens about how he would approach “working as a team” on a board where not everyone is likely to always agree. “I guarantee I’ll work collaboratively with every one of you here,” he said, noting that in his previous board experience, he saw firsthand that no single member had all of their ideas prevail all of the time. “That’s the process,” he said.
Viens reminded the board members that he’s mindful of the will of the larger group. “When I’ve run for the select board, I felt so strongly about the democratic process that I wouldn’t even vote for myself,” he said. “Because I felt it was the people’s choice.”
The three members of the board who were to make the choice in this case — Staskus, Schneider and Roger Clapp — voted to discuss the appointment decision in executive session at the end of the board meeting.
Viens and Hoffman shared a friendly discussion during the wait. After about 15 minutes, the board returned to the meeting room to vote 3-0 to appoint Hoffman. As the meeting broke up for the night, Viens and Hoffman shared a handshake.
“Do a good job. And keep costs down,” Viens told the new board member.
“I take this very seriously,” Hoffman replied.
Town Clerk and Treasurer
What was anticipated to be another board action to fill a key town government role had a less successful outcome.
Former Town Clerk and Treasurer Karen Petrovic arrived midway through the board meeting for an item late on the board’s agenda. Petrovic served as town clerk and treasurer from fall 2022 until Jan. 2 this year, when she resigned, citing unhappiness with her position and work environment under former Municipal Manager Tom Leitz, who also resigned a month later.
No candidates came forward for the clerk and treasurer positions on the March 3 ballot. On election day, 254 voters wrote in Petrovic for her to win election to the town clerk position; she also received 87 votes for treasurer.
Petrovic had 30 days to take the oaths of office and accept the positions, or decline at a meeting of the select board. To be prepared for Petrovic to take the oath of office at the April 7 meeting, Interim Town Manager Bill Woodruff arranged for Justice of the Peace Jim Adams to be in attendance. When the board reached that point on their agenda, Staskus told Petrovic that the board wanted to give her an opportunity to take the oath of office.
Petrovic walked up to the board table and addressed the board and about two dozen audience members. “I want to thank the voters who came out in March and voted for me,” she said, adding, “I am not signing the oath.”
Before leaving the meeting room, she also returned a checking account binder that she had in her recent role as assistant town treasurer, saying she was also resigning from that position.
The board did not discuss the matter any further, moving on to vote to confirm that the positions of clerk and treasurer to be vacant to be filled by appointment by an individual or individuals to serve until the March 2027 election. Anyone appointed could then run for office to continue in those roles, which have three-year terms.
Currently, Beth Jones and Bill Shepeluk are serving as interim town clerk and interim town treasurer, respectively, since they were appointed to those positions in early January. Their appointments remain in place until the select board replaces them.
The clerk and treasurer positions have been posted on the town website and on the Roundabout’s Public Notices page. The official announcement calls for a May 1 application deadline. The board is aiming to interview and fill those positions at its May 5 meeting. The appointee or appointees for those roles would serve until the March 2027 election.
As of Monday, April 20, Interim Clerk Jones said there have been no applications.
The notices for the positions outline an alternative to the appointment process, which involves holding a special election to fill the clerk and treasurer roles. Voters would need to petition the select board for such an election, which would require signatures of 5% of the registered voters in Waterbury. For last month’s Town Meeting Day election, Waterbury had 4,578 registered voters; 5% would be 229 voters.
Board & commission appointments
The board heard from a number of individuals interested in being appointed or re-appointed to positions on volunteer positions on town boards and commissions and the regional planning commission.
The following appointments were approved without any objections:
Billy Vigdor reappointed and Monica Callan appointed to the Planning Commission
Dave Frothingham, Bud Wilson and Dave Rodgers reappointed to the Development Review Board
Jane Brown and Marge Gulyas reappointed to the Tree Board
Mike LoSchiavo reappointed as Tree Warden
Doug Greason reappointed as Waterbury representative to the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission and Mike Hedges to the regional commission’s Transportation Action Committee. Greason and Hedges also serve as alternates on the opposite bodies.
The board also briefly discussed an upcoming appointment to the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board. One of the four Waterbury members on that board, Corey Hackett, resigned after the March election, creating an opening for the school board to fill with an appointment until the March 2027 election. The school board received one application from Waterbury physician Dr. Jillan Sackett, a child psychiatrist. The school board’s process includes consulting with the select board in the community where there is vacancy for a recommendation on any applicants.
Vice Chair Schneider said he reviewed Sackett’s application to the school board and talked with School Board Chair Ashley Woods and thought the board should support Sackett’s interest. The board voted 4-0 to recommend Sackett. The school board, meeting the following evening, appointed Sackett to the open Waterbury seat.
Next meeting: Tuesday, April 21
The select board’s next meeting is Tuesday, April 21, at 6:30 p.m. It has another list of about 10 more volunteer positions to fill with appointments on its agenda.
The board has begun a process for the town’s various advisory volunteer boards and commissions to check in by having representatives of the commissions attend a select board meeting several times a year. At this week’s meeting, the board will hear from the Recreation Committee and the Town Meeting Day Study Committee.
The board will get an update from Duncan McDougall who has co-chaired the Better Connections transportation improvement study in Waterbury Center. That initiative will include a state-funded demonstration project this summer to test some improvements to vehicle, pedestrian, bicycle and parking features at the intersections of Howard Avenue, Maple Street and Guptil Road.
Other topics the board will cover will include a court appeal of a recent development permit for a property on Waterbury-Stowe Road, work by Verizon on a transmission tower on Gregg Hill, progress on the Randal Meadow flood mitigation project and the Stanley-Wasson housing development proposal, a budget update, and the launch of the town manager search process.
Meetings are accessible via zoom with login details on the board’s agenda page. They also are recorded by ORCA Media and posted on ORCA’s website.