Select Board to address multiple municipal appointments at Tuesday’s meeting

April 6, 2026  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Filling more openings in town government will be a big part of the agenda when the Waterbury Select Board meets on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Steele Community Room and via Zoom.

A top priority is the appointment to fill the board vacancy following the March resignation of former Vice Chair Kane Sweeney. 

According to Interim Town Manager Bill Woodruff, the board has two applicants to consider: Evan Hoffman and Chris Viens, who both ran for select board positions in the recent March 3 election. Hoffman came in third in a three-way race for two one-year seats on the board. Martha Staskus and Sandy Sabin won those positions. Viens ran for a three-year board term, but Don Schneider won that contest. 

Sweeney stepped down following town meeting due to taking a new job with the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, the labor union that Waterbury municipal employees recently joined with the ratification of a four-year contract in January. Sweeney’s term still had one more year before it expired, so it was not on the March election ballot. 

The select board may appoint a new member to fill the vacant seat, with that individual to serve until the March 2027 election. 

Also on the board’s meeting agenda is a discussion of the town clerk and treasurer positions. Currently, Beth Jones and Bill Shepeluk are serving as interim town clerk and treasurer, respectively. They were each appointed after Karen Petrovic, who held both of those positions, resigned on Jan. 2. 

In the March 3 Town Meeting Day election, voters wrote in Petrovic for both of those offices, and she received enough votes to win election to both despite not having been a declared candidate. Under state law, an individual has 30 days to take their oath of office to assume a position that they have been elected to. So far, Petrovic has not done so. 

The process outlined in statute says the town select board ultimately would fill any vacant elected positions with the appointees serving until the next local election in March 2027. 

Another elected office requiring select board attention is a vacancy on the Harwood Unified Union School District School Board that came open after the March election. Corey Hackett, one of Waterbury’s four representatives on that board, announced his resignation in March. The school board put out a call for applications and has one candidate, Waterbury resident Dr. Jillian Sackett. The school board seeks input from local select boards when considering applicants for its board vacancies. 

The Harwood board meets on Wednesday, when it hopes to fill the Waterbury opening. The appointee would also serve until March 2027, at which time they could run for election to the school board. 

In addition to addressing these vacant elected offices, the select board has on its agenda a list of potential appointments to make to various town boards and commissions, as some of those positions have terms ending at the end of this month. 

Other business on the meeting agenda for Tuesday includes review and adoption of the local emergency management plan, and updates on town staffing and ongoing projects, including the Randall Meadow flood mitigation effort and the proposed housing development for the Stanley-Wasson property near the State Office Complex. 

The Waterbury Select Board agenda is posted on the board’s page on the town website. The link to join via zoom is on the agenda.