Close to 40 Dublin residents turned out to Monday afternoon’s Select Board meeting asking about nepotism and ethics in the town offices. And one resident asked for the outgoing Town Administrator to be removed immediately.

The contentious meeting is a culmination of several events in town over the past week. The meeting was ongoing as of press time Monday.

On Thursday, a group of residents put up a 32 square-foot billboard advertising write-in candidate Tosha Desmarais, who is running for the Town Clerk/Tax Collector position against incumbent Jeannine Dunne. It was taken down late on Friday after town attorney Matthew Serge determined it to be in violation of a town ordinance governing the size of signs.

The Planning Board recommended the Select Board enforce town ordinance after two residents cited violations at the Thursday meeting. Town ordinance dictates that signs of any kind be less than 20 square feet, and additionally prohibits signs to be mounted on trailers, Selectman Dale Gabel said. Code Enforcement Officer Michael Borden said that after he received the ruling, he reached out to resident Sturdy Thomas, who had moved the sign, telling him to either move the sign or downsize it. Thomas said he promptly removed the sign from Main Street.

Resident Brie Morrissey said she was part of the group that made the sign and had it on her property before it was moved to another Main Street resident’s property. She said the group decision to take the sign down had less to do with the attorney’s ruling and more to do with what she saw as “discontent” among residents.

“It’s about a town election,” she said, rather than the specifics of a roadside sign. “The amount of people that have come out to support their opinion one way or another shows that it’s a problem.”

Residents have rallied around Town Clerk/Tax Collector Jeannine Dunne after Desmarais and her mother, Town Administrator Sherry Miller, claimed Dunne created a “hostile environment” in the town offices. Miller announced her resignation on March 2, Desmarais resigned from her position as Assistant to the Town Administrator two weeks prior.

Deputy Town Clerk/Tax Collector Neil Sandford said the claims against Dunne are unfounded.

“I was very surprised at the comments, because they don’t reflect the person I know,” he said, describing Dunne as “the kindest, most gentle, caring spirit.”

“I don’t think the word “‘hostile’ … could ever be used to describe her,” he said.

“This is a terribly sad thing that’s happening,” former Assistant to the Town Administrator Jean Sterling said of the allegations levied against Dunne.

Sterling worked as Assistant to the Town Administrator for three years before resigning in 2016 due to health complications, she said.

“I witnessed a lot of hostility, but it was not coming from the [Town Clerk’s] office,” she said, “It was coming from Sherry’s office.”

Sterling said she thought Miller was very competent in her position, but that she “witnessed a lot of unfairness” in the way Miller interacted with others.

Cindy Lundberg, another former Assistant to the Town Administrator from 2018 to 2019, said she never witnessed problems with the Town Clerk/Tax Collector’s office.

“I didn’t have any issues with her, she was always pleasant and professional,” she said of Dunne, but was unwilling to comment further publicly, although she said she’d agree to an exit interview with the Selectman if they wanted to do one.