Protest leads Gilford selectmen to void layoff of Verdile-Philibotte

LACONIA — The Selectboard announced on Wednesday that it had changed its mind about laying off a key member of the Department of Planning and Land Use. Stephanie Verdile-Philibotte will keep her job, much to the relief of members of the Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Conversation Commission.

Board chairman John O'Brien said he and his colleagues would continue to look for places to cut the town's 2012 operating budget a total of $300,000.

Previously, the board had voted a two-week stay of Verdile-Philibotte's layoff. That decision was apparently made permanent during a non-public session of the board that was held immediately prior to Wednesday night's public session.

O'Brien announced only that the board had voted to keep its "rescission in place", without elaborating. The Daily Sun reporter at the meeting mistakenly took that wording to mean the board was sticking to its guns on the layoff and the newspaper reported as such on Thursday. In fact, just the opposite was true.

Verdile-Philibotte had been informed her position was being eliminated as of September 2 as one of the cost-cutting measures. Word of that move was greeted by howls of protest from members of the two land use board she coordinates activities for. They showed up in mass at the August 24 Selectboard meeting and offered testimonial after testimonial as to how valuable she was.

Conservation Commission member John Goodhue called Verdile-Philibotte the "backbone" of her department.

Via letter, Conversation Commission member Doug Hill said he would resign in protest if Verdile-Philibotte was laid off.

Immediately after that meeting, the board met privately with Verdile-Philibotte. The published minutes of that meeting indicate she gave board members a summary of her duties, briefly asked and answered questions and then left the room.

O'Brien then moved to "rescind the pending layoff" and reconsider the entire issue on September 14 and that initiative was unanimously adopted.

The minutes of the board's follow-up non-public session, on Wednesday night, are not yet available for public viewing.