'Not a pleasant situation': Weymouth mayor, town Republicans at odds over appointment

• The town council rejected all three of the Weymouth Republican Town Committee’s nominees to serve on the board of registrars.
• Mayor Robert Hedlund and members of the Weymouth Republican Town Committee are at odds on how to move forward with putting forth additional nominees for consideration.

WEYMOUTH − Mayor Robert Hedlund and members of the Weymouth Republican Town Committee are at odds over how to proceed after the town council rejected all three of the committee’s nominees for the board of registrars.

The board is responsible for ensuring elections are conducted appropriately and is made up of two Republicans and two Democrats. Each party's town committee nominates people to fill open positions. The mayor then selects a candidate for the town council's consideration.

Last fall, the Republican Town Committee put forth three candidates to Hedlund for consideration: Linda Rorie, Marie Stoeckel and Joseph Fleming. But the town council rejected all three.

"It’s frustrating for the Republican Party right now," Joe Bronske, chair of Weymouth Republican Town Committee, said. "It’s not a pleasant situation."

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Hedlund, who was a Republican member of the state Senate, said he was told by Town Solicitor Rick McLeod that he can ask the town committee to put forth three additional names or he can select a registered Republican on his own to fill the position "to break this impasse."

“It's a minor irritant I'd like to put behind us," Hedlund said of the situation.

But Bronske said state law says the appointment should be made from the list submitted by the town committee of the political party whose seat is being filled.

"The law does not talk about exhausting the list. It states every such appointment shall be made from the list of three names submitted by the Republican Town Committee," Bronske said. "I think the law is pretty clear. One of the three names has to be appointed to serve as registrar. I don’t see where you can ask for a list of new names."

Bronske, who served on the board of registrars before heading the Weymouth Republican Town Committee, said the group "stands firm that (the town) has to go with one of those three names."

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The town council first rejected Rorie on the basis of a letter sent by 14 residents, most of whom are registered Democrats, accusing her of wrongdoing at a polling place in March 2020. The council then rejected Stoeckel because her nomination did not include her resume, despite claims that one has never been required before, and Fleming was rejected because he used the town seal on a voter manual without authorization.

Stoeckel filed a complaint with the secretary of state's Elections Division calling the town council's process "neither fair nor impartial" and that it "demonstrates their bias and violates the intention of the Massachusetts state laws."

Town Council President Arthur Mathews said the council was justified in denying the nominations. He said Stoeckel and Fleming are officers on the Weymouth Republican Town Committee, which they would have to step down from to serve as registrar.

He denied that the council's rejections were politically motivated, saying they are instead related to concerns about each nominee.

“In 21 years of being on town council, I’ve approved every other nomination, including the current chair of the Weymouth Republican Town Committee,” Mathews said. “We’re not trying to drag this out. As soon as we get the names, we have 30 days to act on it.”

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