At last, Tony DeFeo appointed to Smyrna Council

The fifth time was a charm for Tony DeFeo.

After two months of wrestling with the issue, Smyrna Town Council voted 5-1 on Monday night to appoint DeFeo to the vacant seat on council.

At each of the previous four meetings of council, DeFeo was nominated for this open seat, but the motion failed each time, usually by 3-3 votes, and the seat remained vacant.

On Monday night, the stalemate ended with DeFeo’s appointment to council.

DeFeo wasn’t the only one nominated, though.

When it was time to consider the vacant seat, Councilman Larry Thornton nominated Jeffrey Montejo for the appointment, and Valerie White seconded the motion. This motion was defeated 5-1, with Thornton casting the lone vote in favor of Montejo’s appointment. Thornton had also unsuccessfully nominated Montejo for the seat at the previous meeting.

Next, Councilman Memphis Evans nominated DeFeo for the vacant seat, and Thornton seconded the motion. Council approved the appointment 5-1, with White voting against it.

After the vote, members of the public who were present in the council chamber applauded loudly.

From there, DeFeo took his oath of office, and then briefly addressed the audience.

“I’d like to thank everyone for their support and their trust, and all the effort they made over the past five or six meetings,” he said.

DeFeo also commended Jeff Montejo, the other candidate who had been nominated for the open seat.

“Either way, you would have won with Jeff, too,” he said.

DeFeo then sat down at the panel’s empty seventh seat, and Smyrna Council returned to full strength.

With the appointment finalized, Mayor Pat Stombaugh thanked council and said she appreciated the cooperation with the appointment.

After the meeting, DeFeo said was glad to see the issue resolved congenially.

“Again, I’m very humbled by all the support I received from residents here in town,” he added. “I’m in awe.”

DeFeo also encouraged the citizens of Smyrna to get involved in the process, to go to committee meetings, see what’s taking place and let their voices be heard.

Residents weigh in on appointment

Prior to the July 6 council meeting, a handful of residents again stood at the steps of Town Hall and lofted signs calling for DeFeo’s appointment to council.

Conrad Hebert held a sign with the quote, “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” attributed to Abraham Lincoln.

During the portion of the meeting for public comments, Heather Burleigh of Sunnyside Road called on council to appoint DeFeo.

She thanked the council members for serving the town and sacrificing their time for little compensation.

She then asked council members Evans, White and Thornton to please reconsider their previous votes and appoint Tony DeFeo.

Burleigh said she is DeFeo’s neighbor, so she could speak about him from personal experience.

“He’s a man of integrity and good character who’s always looking out for his neighbors,” she said.

Seat will be up for election next year

The vacant seat on Smyrna Council became open when former Councilman Bill Pressley resigned in order to run for the mayor’s seat.

Although Pressley resigned prior to the April 2009 election, his former council seat could not be included in that election because there wasn’t enough time to meet the state’s requirement for posting a notice of the open seat.

DeFeo’s appointment to the vacant seat will last until the next town election in April of 2010. At that time, the seat will be up for election again, and the winner will serve for the one year remaining on the three-year term begun by Pressley.

Bill Raynor appointed vice mayor

For Smyrna Council, DeFeo’s vote could now represent the tiebreaker for votes that were previously deadlocked at 3-3.

At Monday night’s meeting, his vote made the difference in another unresolved appointment – the vice mayor’s position.

After DeFeo’s appointment, Mayor Stombaugh nominated Bill Raynor for vice mayor, and council approved it in a 4-3 vote. Stombaugh, DeFeo, Bob Riddagh and Raynor voted in favor of Raynor’s nomination, while Evans, White and Thornton voted against it.

Mayor Stombaugh’s nominations for the Charter Review Committee, however, failed 4-3. Stombaugh, Riddagh and Raynor voted in favor of the committee nominations, while Thornton, Evans, White and DeFeo voted against it.