New Shelburne Municipal warden has rough reception

By Greg Bennett

The Coast Guard

NovaNewsNow.com

There was shouting, anger and tears.

That was Sherm Embree’s first 20 minutes as the new Shelburne Municipal warden on Monday night.

After Paulette Scott tendered her resignation as warden upon accepting a position with the new owners of the Shelburne Film Studios. Embree was nominated as a candidate for the position.

Immediately after the vote Embree was faced with hostile comments.

Councillor Raymond Davis, who had called for Scott to remain as warden, said “we’ve made some big mistakes …I think this is the biggest one.”

The meeting remained tense and a short time later after arguing a point with the new warden, Councillor Davis stormed out of the room throwing around explicatives as he exited.

The outburst caused one councillor to break down in tears and caused a 10-minute delay in the meeting.

Councillor Davis did not return to the meeting, which eventually returned to normalcy as it progressed.

Embree, who asked for the support of councillors, will serve out the remainder of the term as warden, until municipal elections in October. He noted that Scott’s three-and-a-half years as warden had been highlighted by major changes in the municipality including the sale of the two large properties for economic development and major changes to the administrative structure of the unit.

Scott also announced her intention to resign as the municipality’s representative on the South West Shore Development Authority.

Many of her council had expressed concerns about a possible conflict of interest between her new position at the former navy base and her roles as warden and on SWSDA.

Although Scott said she did not believe she was in a conflict of interest situation, that she resigned to ease public perception.

The former warden said she would continue to serve as councillor for her district and would reoffer again in the fall election.