LEE — Yesterday’s race for Board of Selectmen was largely about one issue: a PCB Dump for GE’s toxic waste. Voters, animated in their opposition to an accepted proposal by Lee’s Selectboard, ousted 12-year incumbent Republican David Consolati by a margin of about 2 to 1. Bob Jones, a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Town of Lee challenging the legality of the PCB Dump agreement, will replace Consolati.
The unofficial results as of Tuesday morning place the tally at 697-279 for Jones, a landslide ouster of Consolati. Turnout was slightly decreased from last year, when over 1,100 residents came out to vote. This year, roughly 990 residents cast ballots. The unofficial results can be found here.
Jones, a current Town Meeting Representative, who was sworn in earlier today to begin his three-year term. “I’d like to thank everyone who supported me,” Jones said this morning in an Edge interview. “I am going to take the next three years to prove that I am up to the task.”
Animating voters was widespread disdain over the selectboard agreeing to a proposal by GE to relocate some of the PCBs dumped into the Housatonic River to a facility in a former Lee quarry. Anger amongst citizens had prompted another landslide ouster, that of selectboard chairman Thomas Wickham in 2020.
“The selectboard has been handed, yet again, another strong mandate” Jones stated. “I was cautiously optimistic, but surprised by the margin. There’s clearly a strong mandate against a PCB dump.”
Jones was quick to caution, however, that the PCB dump is not just a single issue, but rather encapsulates a multitude of issues for Lee citizens: “It’s transparency. It’s judgment. Accessibility, the free flow of information. There has been an awakening on behalf of the citizens of Lee.”
For defeated incumbent David Consolati, it’s more cut and dried. “I lost because of the PCB dump. That’s it.” Consolati had been on the board when the three members agreed to a proposal by GE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would give the town $25 million and locate a PCB dump at the former Lane Construction quarry, now known as the Upland Disposal Facility. “When you get something in your head, there’s no dissuading you from that position,” Consolati said in reference to those who believe the deal can be rescinded.
“I hope Mr. Jones fulfills what he said he would do. I wish him luck,” Consolati said. “Move forward and tomorrow’s another day.”
Last year, Sean Regnier defeated Thomas Wickham, who netted a vote total similar to Consolati’s, receiving 269 votes in a three-way race. Tuesday’s results leave selectwoman Patricia Carlino as the sole remaining member who originally supported the GE settlement.
Still, the political calculus of the selectboard regarding the settlement is unclear. Regnier, who ran on rescinding the agreement, has since reneged on that pledge, instead proposing an Oversight Committee that will observe the activities outlined in the agreement while also researching technologies to treat PCB contaminated soils. Regnier contends that he cannot “vote it [the settlement] down retroactively” according to a Facebook post. This has been much to the dismay of Lee residents.
This was not the first time that Consolati and Jones have sparred. Last year Jones signed on as a plaintiff suing Consolati and other members of the Lee Selectboard, alleging they violated the Commonwealth’s open meeting laws while accusing the members of “abuse of their discretion in their capacity as public servants.” The lawsuit can be viewed here.
That lawsuit still appears to be going forward, according the No PCB Dumps: Action Group Facebook page, and the fundraising effort to support it continues:
“I don’t intend to work behind closed doors. We still don’t know how this happened,” Jones said. “This is a big fight — we’ve been charged with the responsibility of fighting it. It’s a bad situation we’ve been placed in, but we have to work through it.”
The PCB Dump is not the only issue on Jones’ mind. “We have the Eagle Mill project, the vacant Price Chopper lot; we have lots of things to tackle.”
“I knew the challenges that existed and I made the choice,” Jones stated. “I know it isn’t going to be easy.”
