At 9:49 PM on Tuesday evening, following the conclusion of the Select Board meeting, board member Shahidul Mannan and his wife, Nasiba Mannan, resigned from the Hopkinton Democratic Town Committee.
Mr. Mannan was elected to the Select Board in 2022, and Mrs. Mannan was elected to the Board of Health in 2023. Mr. Mannan was also the Vice Chair of the HDTC.
To the HDTC email list, Mr. Mannan wrote:
Hello,
I regret to inform you that effective immediately Nasiba and I are resigning from HDTC. It has been a pleasure knowing you all and working with you on our democratic agenda over the years.
We will serve out our terms as democrats. Rest assured, we are democrats at heart and will continue to serve our town and our democratic cause.
The move came following a stunning setback for Mr. Mannan, who served as Vice Chair of the Select Board under Muriel Kramer from 2023 – 2024. Mannan was considered by many to be the Chair-apparent, a position he had semi-privately coveted for years.
But Monday’s election, which sent Brian Herr and Joe Clark to the Select Board, threw Mannan’s chairmanship in doubt. Herr and Clark, who are unenrolled, were elected by a 2:1 margin over their Democrat rivals, Peter Mimmo and Kyla McSweeney. Herr and Clark were seated on the board last night, and as public forum opened, several residents spoke in support of Herr as chairman.
>> RELATED: Watch: Residents Demand Herr for Chair – and Get It
Mannan, who was presiding over the meeting, then opened the floor to nominations, and Clark nominated Herr for the Chair. Select Board member Amy Ritterbusch nominated Mannan, which put board member Mary Jo Lafreniere – a HDTC party member and the Middlesex & Norfolk State Committee Representative for the Massachusetts Democrats – in the position to cast the deciding vote.
“This is a really tough one for me. I’ve worked with both men, both men are honorable, and both men can see the big picture,” said Lafreniere. “But in this case, I do believe that the town needs a quiet-down period, and I would go for Brian Herr.”
With the board reorganized and Herr seated as Chair, the board began nominating members for the Vice Chair position. Clark nominated Lafreniere, and Ritterbusch again nominated Mannan. Noting that this was likely to be Lafreniere’s last term on the Select Board, Herr cast his vote for Mary Jo, and the matter was settled.
HDTC chair Amy Groves could not be reached for comment.
I’ve said this before, but there are some wonderful Dems in this town. They are all suffering from poor leadership and have been misguided at times. I wonder if they can form a new HDTC sans a few bad actors. Maybe they can form an HDTC 2.0? The election this week proved that it doesn’t pay to be affiliated with them anymore. What stuck out to me were all the blank votes. Most of the races were uncontested yet a significant number of voters chose to vote for nobody over their members. Chris Masters did not campaign at all and got more votes than Wronka. Hopefully this is a wake up call for them.
And the chickens are finally coming home to roost!
Quick, look outside! I think pigs are flying!!!
Despite the opportunity the HDTC had last year to restructure and distance themselves from their former chair, they opted to stay the course and double down on their existing approach. This decision has since proven to be a grave mistake.
After an embarassing night for Mr. Mannan there is no surprise that he is publicly distancing himself from the HDTC.
Great news for Hopkinton. The new Select persons can now right the ship. As a 43-year resident, the last couple of years have been the worst I have ever experienced with the previous incumbents.
Time for Tedstone or Coutinho to come back and replace him.
Finally reset the madness of the past few years and get back to the SB implementing the will of the people, not their own agenda.
Would he have resigned if he had been voted SB Chair?