Del Thompson
Appointed
To Selectboard
By M. D. Drysdale

Del Thompson, a former selectman, was selected Tuesday to fill the late Jim Hutchinson’s former seat on the Randolph selectboard.

Thompson was selected following an executive session to discuss the three candidates—Budget Committee Chair Carol Flint, and former Selectman Damon Lease, as well as Thompson.

Upon coming out of executive session, the board voted 4-0 for Thompson. Chairman Stephen Webster commented that the board had not been in full agreement during the executive session but it felt it was important to present a united front in making the appointment.

The other three board members are Ken Goss, Larry Townsend, and Joe Voci.

Flint and Lease had made their intentions known soon after Hutchinson’s untimely death, had previously been interviewed by the selectboard, and had attended several meetings.

Thompson’s hat was thrown into the ring more recently, and Webster invited him to address the board briefly before the executive session.

Webster said later that he had been impressed by Thompson’s letter offering his candidacy and noted that Thompson is a long-time resident with whom he has worked previously.

Thompson is employed by the Vermont Agency of Transportation as a project supervisor for highway projects and for large private developments that are likely to affect traffic flow or other highway matters.

In addressing the selectboard Tuesday, Thompson said that "a lot has changed" in his perspective since he last served on the board five years ago. In five years of working around the state "I saw a lot of towns," he said, which has made him "a little more flexible" in his ideas.

"The board has a difficult year ahead of it," he observed, especially because of the cost of oil and gas. "I’m real concerned about taxes."

He noted that some other towns have had to cut positions—as has his own department at work.

"The services we provide in this town are so much better than in other towns, it’s incredible," he said. "I would hate to see (services) go down, but we might have to look at it."