By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

A dispute over records related to an investigation of a suspended long-time Epsom town employee has apparently led the Epsom Board of Selectmen to replace its chairman.

At the selectmen's June 27 meeting, Mary Frambach was elected chairman, replacing Joni Kitson. Kitson, who was elected chairman in March, will remain on the board.

The trouble seems to have arisen from details related to the board's investigation of Epsom Fire Department Capt. Floyd Graham, who was suspendend indefinitely without pay earlier this year after 17 years as a town employee.

Selectmen aren't disclosing information related to the suspension and subsequent investigation of Graham, as both are matters of personnel.

Shortly after the investigation, said Selectman Jay Hickey, board members suggested to Kitson she recuse herself, and Kitson agreed.

Then, in a letter to the board dated June 10, Kitson requested to view and copy Graham's time sheets from a period of 13 days in April.

"I have reason to believe that this time sheet may have been altered after I placed my initials on it approving it for payment," wrote Kitson.

During the June 27 meeting, Selectman Julie Clermont introduced a motion to have a policy to keep in confidence specific information about the details of compensation, and said, "These are to be treated as nonpublic personnel information," according to minutes of the meeting.

After some discussion, the motion passed 4-1, with Kitson's being the lone negative vote. According to minutes, Kitson said her reading of the Right to Know law is that timecards are records that have always been available to the public.

Following the vote, Clermont told Kitson that her request to view Graham's payroll records was inappropriate, considering that Kitson had been recused from the investigation, according to minutes.

Also in the minutes, Selectman Jay Hickey accused Kitson of having a different agenda than the rest of the board, and suggestions were made that Kitson was hindering the investigation of Graham.

Hickey introduced a motion to elect Frambach as chairman, effective immediately. The motion was seconded by Clermont. The motion passed 3-0, with an abstention from Selectman Peter Boziak, who chose not to vote because he's "not a lawyer," and matters were "getting too complicated," according to minutes.

During a phone interview, Kitson did not disclose why she was originally recused from the investigation of Graham, though Frambach and Hickey said they believed that Kitson was at one time a babysitter for Graham.

"I know him, that's all," said Kitson, who became a selectman in 2003. Kitson added that she requested to view Graham's time sheet following a previous discussion of the board that "raised a red flag."

Frambach, who served as chairman of the board of selectmen last year - her first year on the board after 17 years with the town's budget committee - said she regrets what has transpired.

"This was not something any of us wanted," she said of Kitson's removal. "There are some hard feelings, but I think we're going to work through this."

Kitson said she will continue to serve the town.

"I'm not one to have hard feelings," she said. "I go about my business and I run it as it should be run."