Shutesbury Select Board interviews two finalists for vacant Town Clerk post

SHUTESBURY -- July 1, 2026, Shutesbury Select Board reorganized and interviewed two Town Clerk finalists on July 1, targeting a hire by July 7. Melissa MacNeil was reappointed chair and Eric Stalker vice chair, each by a two-to-zero vote with the new third member, Jim Walton, abstaining on both officer elections. The board then conducted back-to-back interviews with Calvin Ellison, an academic administrator recently returned from Washington, D.C., and Damon Herring, a 12-year Shutesbury resident and construction-industry territory manager. Both candidates were asked directly about election-law readiness; Ellison said he would need "some knowledge catch-up" before the fall midterm cycle, while Herring acknowledged his current knowledge amounts to knowing "you can't prevent me from voting," but pledged to make election preparation his first priority. The board directed both finalists to submit three professional references to Town Administrator Haley Brenon immediately, with background checks and deliberations on the agenda for the July 7 meeting at 5 p.m. In routine business, the board unanimously accepted resignations from April Stein of the Personnel Board and Jill Bancroft of the Shutesbury Police Department, reappointed Stein to the Board of Assessors, named Cliff Reed to the Community Preservation Committee in the statutorily required Board of Park Commissioners seat, and voted to close town offices Monday, July 6, in observance of Independence Day.