Chester board names paper of record despite chair’s complaints about Telegraph
Shawn Cunningham | Mar 24, 2026 | Comments 5
By Shawn Cunningham
© 2026 Telegraph Publishing LLC
But the rather routine annual appointment of two papers of record brought the meeting to a halt as Board Chair Lee Gustafson chided this paper for its editorial tone. Rather than report on ourselves in this matter, The Telegraph is providing video of the interaction between Gustafson and this reporter as well as reactions of the other members. While the video was shot on 3/18/26, it was posted on 3/19/26. The discussion runs to 1:01:00.
Permission to use the Green
Sharon Baker spoke to the board about her idea for a festival of Vermont foods. Chester Telegraph file photo
Baker envisioned 20 Vermont food producers with tents stretching along the center of the Green. This would involve closing Common Street on the Friday before to allow for set up and on Saturday. She said that they would also welcome volunteer committees and organizations to participate at no charge. And, Baker added, the Whiting Library would be included in the planning since there has been concern about library’s book sale fundraiser losing funds with the Chester Festival’s move.
Select Board members thanked Baker for her efforts and asked her to coordinate with Town Manager Julie Hance as planning continues.
Select board hears from a single GMUSD board candidate
With two vacant seats representing Chester on the Green Mountain Unified School District Board and five residents who asked to be considered to fill those seats, it was a bit surprising that only one showed up to talk with the Select Board. It’s unusual to have two vacant seats so it bears saying how that occurred. One vacancy came about when Chester representative Casey Leahy resigned from the board. The second was the resignation of Jesse Bailey who was victorious in standing for a one year position but decided after the election to decline the post.
Anne Henshaw speaks to the board about her candidacy for the GM board. Photos by Shawn Cunningham unless otherwise noted
Of course, since the legislature changed the law around filling such vacancies, the local boards have taken a back seat in the process. Until a few years ago, a select board of the town lacking a representative that would appoint the replacement. Now, it’s the school board — including reps from other towns — who vote on replacements. And even though the law gives a select board the opportunity to recommend a candidate, that hasn’t always worked out. Recently the select board-recommended candidate to fill a Cavendish vacancy was passed over by the GM board made up of eight residents of other towns.
And with politics seeping into the mix, the Chester Select Board has been reluctant to recommend and instead has said whether candidates meet the eligibility threshold in the law.
And so it was, when Anne Henshaw appeared last Wednesday, she spoke to the board about her qualifications and desire to serve, the board thanked her and sent a letter to Two Rivers Supervisory Union Superintendent Layne Millington saying only that all five of the candidates were eligible. Click here to learn who the GMUSD board appointed on March 19.
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The Select Boards and school boards are all elected. However, appointments to the school board are made when a member can no longer serve. The “fill in” then must sit for election at the next vote.
I don’t know if this is the case for every select board; but no local, state, nor federal government entity should be made of unelected members. Maybe there should be term limits for these positions too. What consequences should we expect for someone on such a board trying to limit the free press? Who else is tired & ready for real change ?
Mr. Gustafson needs to watch this. He keeps saying he’s not telling The Chester Telegraph how to run the newspaper. He most certainly DID! Over and over again! Who the heck does he think he is? His behavior as the Chair of the Selctboard is abhorrent! Maybe he should step down! Shame on him and his agenda to try to slam this publication. He should have to publicly apologize for his speaking that had such bad undertones. It is one thing to speak for yourself. It is a whole other thing when you say you are speaking on behalf of the board. He was not!! Shame shame shame on him! And Mr. Hudkins ‘ behavior was rude as well. Thank you to the other board members who spoke up. I’ll be watching for the apology!
I think it would be in the best interest of the town for events to be held on different weekends the broader scope of events is to bring people into town people spend money on other things. Events can generate additional commerce but if the Inns, and restaurants are full it’s of no greater benefit to those businesses. Piggy backing off of the festival is not fair to their efforts either they may not openly care and their goal is for the towns greater good but it’s not the most ethical choice in my opinion. Lastly we have been lucky in recent years having nice weather a week end of rain is disastrous for an out door event two things getting knocked out at once is twice as bad.
Thank you to Tim Roper for speaking up against the line of questioning. This should never have occurred. Shawn handled himself extremely well considering he was blindsided by both the unfounded complaint during citizens comments and then again by Mr. Gufstason’s remarks. I was impressed by Shawn’s temperance. Well done.