A Clifton Select Board member stepped down minutes before the board’s most recent meeting.
Steve Armenia walked up to board members Trish Eldridge and Lee Bryant before the Nov. 4 meeting and said “I’m resigning. I’ve had enough.”
The Marine Corps veteran went on to tell attendees that the reason for his resignation was “the lack of integrity in this town.” Armenia did not detail what he meant by that, but he mentioned a town contract signed before he was a board member as an example.
Originally thought to have lost by a single vote in the town’s March election, Armenia won his seat on the board by a single vote after the Maine Supreme Judicial Court overturned Clifton’s results in a July ruling. Armenia clashed with his fellow board members, mostly over how town funds should be spent.
Armenia did not respond to a request for comment. His resignation and announcement lasted roughly two minutes.
When announcing his resignation, Armenia also told Eldridge and Bryant that he had to leave the board before assaulting other members.
Armenia went on to call Newell “the worst veteran I have ever met.”
Clifton Town Manager Shaw Weeks did not respond to a request for comment about how the vacancy will be filled.
The Clifton Select Board has previously operated for months with a vacancy. After a resignation last year, one of the board’s five seats sat vacant for more than four months without a special election being called to fill the position.
Despite being a controversial candidate and not always getting along with other board members, Armenia said he was sad to leave the position.
“It hurts me to have to do this,” he said.