by John Osborn ·
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Leo Blair has resigned from his elected position as a Harvard Selectman and as a member of the Harvard Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, effective immediately. His resignation also leaves vacant the position of Chairman of the Joint Boards of Selectmen (JBOS) to which he was elected for a second time only last month.
“I own four companies and I’m just in the process of establishing a quasi-public real estate investment trust in Maine,” said Blair in a phone interview with the Press. “I started working on the trust about three months ago and I started to realize it was going to take a lot more time than I thought it was going to take and that I’d have to do a lot of work myself.”
“The job of selectman is all-consuming,” Blair said. “It’s meetings four nights a week and countless documents to be studied and understood. I just don’t have the energy or the interest to give the extra 40 to 50 hours per week the job requires.”
Blair was elected in 2008 and is serving a three-year term that ends in 2011. In addition to chairing JBOS, Blair was also chairman of the Harvard Board of Selectmen during his first year on the board.
“I wanted to [submit my resignation] now,” said Blair, “because we have three meetings coming up in September and there’s going to be a lot of work assigned at those meetings and I didn’t want to take an assignment I couldn’t carry out. I think the town is in pretty good shape. I think the other board members are superb and certainly competent. So I feel like things are on an even keel and it’s a good time to step out.”
Blair’s seat will remain open until an election is held to fill it. Lucy Wallace will chair the JBOS until a new member is chosen.
“I always said I would only serve one term,” said Blair. “I thought I would serve a full term.”