A former Hermon town councilor who completed his term earlier this year and three political novices are running to fill a vacant town council seat in a special election in November.
The four candidates are competing to finish the unexpired term of Phillip Richardson, who moved to Carmel this summer and resigned from the council.
The special election has been set for Nov. 8, the same day voters cast ballots for governor, and legislative and county offices. Hermon council and school committee members are selected each June.
Richardson, who was elected to a three-year term in June 2021, resigned effective July 20. He said earlier this month he was able to combine his business, Phil’s Towing, and his residence on property in Carmel.
One of those hoping to finish Richardson’s term is Anthony Reynolds, who did not seek reelection to the town council in June after serving one three-year term. Instead, he ran for the Hermon School Committee and came in third in a crowded field of eight candidates vying for two seats.
Before being elected to the council, Reynolds served four terms on the school committee.
Other candidates are Everett Buzzell; Danielle Haggerty, owner of Dragonfly Physical Therapy in Bangor; and Chelcie Shappy, a local real estate agent.
Reynolds clashed in May with other council members over the school budget. The former councilor was one of two council members who supported the school budget as proposed by the school committee and voted against cutting it by $100,000.
Residents at the annual town meeting supported those cuts by just two votes.
Buzzell was recently critical of the Hermon Town Council, telling members on June 21 that they owed taxpayers an explanation about the sudden resignation of former town manager Howard Kroll.
The council has not disclosed the reasons for Kroll’s departure before the Aug. 31 expiration of his contract.
