Langlais Appointed to Fill Vacant Seat on Board of Selectmen

It wasn't long after Dave Mills was sworn into office Thursday night and the Board of Selectmen chose a new chairman that another new member to the board was appointed and took the oath of office.

Selectmen unanimously appointed Diane Langlais as the fifth member of the board to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Michael Powers in April.

Langlais, a self-employed accountant and longtime Finance Committee member, was praised by selectmen as a highly qualified candidate, a "team player" and very knowledgeable about town finances.

"I think she would be a good addition to this board," said Dan Bennett, who just won re-election to his third term on Tuesday.

Clark said the board could benefit by having a female member again and noted Langlais' experience working on Beacon Hill as well and said she "understands how that process works or doesn't work." He said he knew all three applicants well.

Following remarks by Clark last month, there appeared to be widespread speculation that whoever lost the race between Mills, Bennett and Keith Lucy would be the presumptive candidate for the vacancy.

Lucy, however, who finished a distant third in his bid for re-election, told Clark earlier Thursday evening that he wasn't interested in the seat, said Clark.

Clark said his plan B, as it were, would be to nominate one of the three candidates who applied for the vacancy. That included Langlais, former Police Chief Christ Boras and former Selectman Randall Sparkas.

New chairman Gardner Trask, Bennett and Clark spoke highly of all three as qualified candidates, but uniformly went with Langlais.

"Often we're asked to make decisions about good people and it's not a reflection on the other candidates to say that they weren't qualified or deserving of the opportunity," explained Trask, adding that he was impressed to see Sparkas want to "throw himself back into the fire."

"I believe of the qualifications the most current and consistent knowledge right now especially around the finances is by Diane," he said.

Mills initially said he didn't know enough about the candidates to feel comfortable voting that night and preferred to delay the decision until the board's next meeting, but upon hearing the full confidence his colleagues had in Langlais, he was willing to vote for her after all.

Board members spent several minutes at the outset of their meeting, debating the best way to move forward. Mills wanted to wait, but Clark and Bennett said they were ready to vote and noted any interested parties had at least two weeks to submit their resumes.

Bennett also argued for filling the vacancy sooner than later to avoid any "logjams" on votes.

Trask said he expected selectmen would receive criticism whichever direction they took that night, but again pointed out there was no set precedent to guide them.

The last time the town found itself in such a predicament was 40 years ago and selectmen at the time couldn't agree on an interim appointment so the seat was left vacant for a year.

In addition to the Finance Committee, Langlais is a former Town Meeting member and has served on a few other town boards and been involved with recreational and high school athletics.

Langlais' background includes 28 years running her own tax and accounting services firm in town, several years at other local firms and 10 years as the staff director for former state Rep. and Sen. Joan Menard. She has a degree in accounting from Merrimack College.

Once Langlais was officially installed, board members also took a few moments to thank Lucy and Powers for their service to the town and the board, speaking highly of both men.