COVENTRY — For this one Town Meeting Day the spotlight of the state fell upon the town of Coventry, as residents and reporters crowded into the small town hall to see who the voters would decide to elect as town clerk.
And moderator Walter Tarbox didn’t wait long to get the discussion under way. After the town officers’ reports were accepted, and a notice was given about the free seeds that the Coventry Town Foundation was offering once again to the residents, the position of town clerk was up for nomination. Nominated were incumbent Cynthia Diaz, Ellie Ingram and Carol deSouz Martin.
Ms. Diaz has held the position since she was elected in 2004, when she was dealing with accusations of embezzling $22,000 from a former employer. The case was dismissed when Ms. Diaz paid back the funds.
On Tuesday Ms. Diaz was again dealing with accusations, this time of failing to file income tax returns and owing the state $10,000 in taxes, a charge to which she has pled innocent.
Don Hunt, a resident of Coventry, wanted to know a bit more about the allegations. “I like Cynthia, but what we see behind the scenes we can’t tell, and all we’re getting is the outward appearance plus rumor mill,” he said. “If we look at a recent case of someone who did a great job in the outward appearance, we can look at Bernie Madoff. Everybody loved him and thought he did a great job, but in the end there were charges and problems. I’d like to hear from Cynthia about the allegations.”
“The recent allegations are ongoing. I have been advised not to discuss them,” Ms. Diaz replied. “I’m sorry, and I know that to many people it is disturbing and not what they want to hear.”
While some residents had questions, other residents were supportive of Ms. Diaz.
“I’m not going to tell you who to vote for, but in the country where I live, you are innocent until proven guilty,” said Roberta Jaworski.
The other two candidates were given the opportunity to speak about their experience and why they wanted the position. During the discussion, however, the tables were turned from the accusations against Ms. Diaz to the principal of the Coventry Village School.
“I’ve known Cynthia for a long time, but what I want to know is why the principal who is in charge of our children got slammed with DUI, and she has more power than Cynthia. I know she’s not an elected official, but she should be interrogated also,” said Tim Cicio.
Viola Poirier, a member of the school board for Coventry, spoke up: “This matter has been brought to us and we did take steps. Thank you.”
Ms. Diaz won re-election on a paper ballot with 95 of the 150 votes cast. She also retained the positions of treasurer, trustee of public money, and collector of delinquent taxes.
In other elections, Darryl Martin replaced Rick Bickford as lister, and Steve Taylor, Israel Sanville and Jeff Hinton were elected to the planning commission.
Another heated debate occurred when it was time to elect school directors, as Frank Carbonneau and Viola Poirier’s terms were up. Edmund Petit was nominated to run against Mr. Carbonneau, who had been a board member for nine years.
“I know the value of this green stuff and I know what the word ‘no’ means. And in some instances you have to say no and you have to take a long look at what’s going on and study it and then make a decision and go from there,” Mr. Petit said.
Coventry resident Karen Hack spoke up for Mr. Carbonneau. “My experience with Frank has been wonderful. He’s in the school a lot, he has children in the school, he’s a great listener, he’s very creative, and it’d be great to still have him on the school board.”
Because the voice vote was too close to tell, the vote went to a paper ballot. Of 121 votes cast, Mr. Petit received 64, making him a new school director.
Israel Sanville was nominated to run against Viola Poirier, as was Mr. Carbonneau.
“I do not choose to run against Viola,” Mr. Carbonneau said. “She very much deserves to be there. I appreciate the support, but I have to decline.” Ms. Poirier won on a voice vote and remained on the school board.
The school budget, which had been debated for months by residents and school board members, was voted on by Australian ballot. When the results came in, 87 residents voted to approve the budget of $2,642,247, while 123 voted against it. For the first time in a very long time, the Coventry school budget was not passed on the first try.
Voters approved establishing a capital improvement reserve fund and a negotiations reserve fund, but shot down installing a new biomass wood pellet heating system, which would cost up to $390,000.
The school board will be meeting on Wednesday, March 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Coventry Village School to discuss the failed budget.
