Terry McCarthy resigns as Carroll County commissioner

CONWAY — Terry McCarthy has resigned from the Carroll County Board of Commissioners, the Carroll County delegation chair announced last Friday.

McCarthy (R-Conway) was re-elected to a four-year term in November, defeating Wharton Sinkler (D-Sandwich) 18,178 to 13,551. Before taking office in January, McCarthy served six years as a commissioner for District 1. The resignationt takes effect April 1.

District 1 includes Albany, Bartlett, Chatham, Conway, Hales Location, Hart’s Location, Jackson, and Sandwich.

The delegation, a group of 15 state representatives, sets county budgets. Chairman Lino Avellani (R-Wakefield) made the announcement about McCarthy at the end of the March 21 meeting.

“Today, I received the resignation of Commissioner McCarthy,” Avellani said, adding it was followed by a phone call.

McCarthy said she would send the Sun a statement this week. County Coordinator Mellisa Seamans didn’t have a copy of the resignation letter as of Monday morning.

McCarthy had not attended a commissioners’ meeting since the post-election swearing-in Jan. 8. In early December, she announced her husband, Frank, has blood cancer. Frank is a retired Marine who also served as a state representative.

The November election was unusual because all three commissioner seats were up for grabs due to resignations. Also elected were Chuck McGee (R-Moultonborough) and Harold Parker (R-Wolfeboro). Before being elected, McGee was appointed by the delegation to serve out the term after Kim Tessari (R-Ossipee) resigned. Parker’s seat was vacant because Bill Nelson (R-Brookfield) chose not to run. The delegation appointed Nelson after Matt Plache (R-Wolfeboro) resigned.

On Friday, Avellani told the Sun the delegation would use a similar process to find a replacement for McCarthy as it did to appoint Nelson and McGee.

The delegation will issue a notice asking for candidates who live in Commissioner District 1.

Avellani expects the delegation will discuss the candidates sometime in May, depending on the House’s schedule.

Meanwhile, the delegation has also formed an investigative committee to look into the departure of former county CFO Bonnie Batchelder, who resigned abruptly after clashing with McGee and Parker. Batchelder was a contractor and not a county employee.

During the delegation meeting Friday, Avellani said it was he who first called for the investigation.

Wolfeboro resident Fred Cain said Batchelder’s work was expensive. For 60 days of work over an 11 month period she was paid $166,148.

Batchelder took issue with Seamans having authority over the finance department staff, saying Seamans lacked expertise in the field. She accused commissioners of creating a hostile work environment. She resigned from her position in a letter dated Jan. 29.

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Commissioners said they were concerned about how Batchelder treated county employees and called her sudden departure a breach of contract.

At the March 7 delegation meeting, the delegation voted to create an investigative committee consisting of representatives David Paige (D-Conway), Steve Woodcock (D-Conway), Avellani, Glenn Cordelli (R-Tuftonboro) and Katt Peternel (R-Wolfeboro).

The delegation approved $35,000 for outside counsel to help with the investigation.

County Attorney Keith Blair said by law he can’t refer the investigation to another county attorney, as it isn’t a criminal matter. However, because he will likely be called as a witness, he recommended hiring outside counsel.

The county sheriff’s office will also assist with the investigation.

Meanwhile, the county commissioners launched their own internal investigation into the issues surrounding Batchelder’s departure. Their findings were summarized in a 2½-page letter to the delegation, made available last Friday.

The letter accuses Batchelder of overstepping her authority, causing delays in financial reporting, and conspiring with McCarthy.

For instance, one bullet point in the document states that Batchelder, McCarthy and an unnamed delegation member “were involved in wrongfully and repeatedly accusing an elected official of illegal hiring practices.”

McGee and Parker also faulted McCarthy and Batchelder for mishandling an urgent email regarding a grant for the annex remodel project, which caused delays and construction price increases to the extent that the project had to be curtailed.

However, over the years, Avellani and other delegation members had expressed gratitude for Batchelder’s work.

“I want to thank the CFO (Bonnie Batchelder) and the commissioners, current and former, for getting this budget to where it is today,” Avellani said in January 2024. “Our numbers are better. There’s more trust in them. Questions are asked and answered very quickly. It has been quite refreshing the last couple of years to have budgets that are prepared like this.”

Parker and McGee’s letter also states that the finance department is operating smoothly and that the commissioners are working on hiring a finance director. The county is also working with Municipal Resources Inc. to support the finance department.

Parker and McGee also said they don’t believe the investigation is the best use of county resources.

“It’s unfortunate during this transitional period that Chairman Avellani and members of the delegation have opted to pursue an ‘us and them’ approach when surely the shared goal should be promoting uninterrupted delivery of county services for our constituents,” the commissioners’ letter said.

The delegation on Friday also approved the county’s 2025 budget of about $42 million. The county budget includes funds for a nursing home, sheriff’s office, county attorney’s office, a jail and the registry of deeds.