For the first time in 51 years, Blackstone doesn’t have a Mayor.
Ben Green resigned April 16th, and the Town also is now without a Treasurer after Brittany Morgan’s recent resignation.
Town Council on April 21st agreed to give Council President Eric Nash and Town Clerk Jennifer Daniel authority to co-sign Town checks until an Interim Mayor is appointed and a new Treasurer is hired. Nash abstained in the 6-0 roll call.
Green had led the Town since Jan. 2023 and said he made one inappropriate comment but not several as claimed — and that his comment didn’t meet the definition of sexual harassment.
Ms. Morgan had served as Town Treasurer since 2017 and gave the Town 30 days’ notice in a blistering letter that claimed “abuse of power” by some members of Council and “defamation of character.” She was making $59,488 per year at the time of her departure.
Her letter claimed that office staff was told by one Councilmember that “all of you white girls look the same.”
She also claimed on Facebook — on a thread involving a Courier-Record sit down interview with Councilman Nathaniel Miller: “The whole system is corrupt. I’ve been asked by a council member to call them ‘The Honorable’ when addressing them. I can almost guarantee this member couldn’t even put my name with my face when attending meetings.
“I have been asked to call a council member to let them know their taxes were due because I (by policy) had to add DMV stops to any customer who had not paid. This person received a personal phone call from me to avoid that. No other citizen did. But I felt I had to do as I was told.
“A council member stood in our lobby hallway and yelled like a toddler (after being extremely rude to the ladies at the front counter) because their utilities were to be disconnected.
“There are so many things that happen behind closed doors that the citizens don’t realize. I don’t mind helping out anyone, however, when employees look a citizen in the face and tell them, ‘I’m sorry but we have to disconnect your electric due to nonpayment,’ but a council member gets to stay on or special treatment — that is not right.
“I have had a council member ask me to keep a customer’s lights on after that customer failed multiple times paying a payment agreement. But others were disconnected.
“And yes, I have witnesses to back-up every single one of my statements. Because this hasn’t only happened to me.”
Miller still insists he wasn’t the member of Council to make the “white girls” comment.
Councilman Chris Page visited the Courier-Record office last week — unannounced — during a Facebook Live update by editor Billy Coleburn. Page joined the interview and said the last time he asked for an extension was Nov. 2023. He said he called the Town Office to request an extension on his utility bill payment because, at the time, he was in Texas to pick-up his oldest daughter.
Page said he was informed by Town staff that he had already received the maximum number of annual payment extensions, and that he accepted their answer and paid the bill remotely with his debit card. Page said he’s never tried to use his position on Council to persuade staff to give him preferential treatment.
Page recalls that all customers at the time were eligible for five extensions per year.
The Town no longer grants utility payment extensions as it did for many years.
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