HATFIELD — Longtime Select Board member Marcus J. Boyle has resigned from the town’s three-member board, effective Tuesday.
His resignation letter, delivered to Town Clerk Lydia Szych Monday, did not give a reason for the abrupt departure, but said, in part: “I regret the timing of this action, but believe it to be in the best interest of the Town. It has been my honor and privilege to serve and represent Hatfield over the past few years, and I wish all employees every continued success.”
Boyle, 72, said when reached by phone that he was resigning for “personal reasons,” but would not go into specifics.
“It’s time for a break to do something different and that time is now for me for a variety of reasons,” Boyle said. “I wish everyone the best.
“Hatfield is a great town,” he said.
Boyle first won election to the Select Board in 2007 and was re-elected in 2010, 2013 and 2016. He was nine months in his current three-year term when he resigned.
His resignation is the second on the Select Board since January. Patrick Gaughan had announced his intention to retire from the board last year, citing a doctor’s recommendations and the stressful nature of the job.
Edmund Jaworski won a special election Jan. 10 to fill the post. Voters also gave approval to another round of Town Hall renovations at the time.
Szych said Tuesday the remaining members of the Select Board — Jaworski and Chairman Brian F. Moriarty — will have to notify Szych that they intend to put the vacant seat on the ballot.
Szych said she expects the board will place the seat on the May 16 Town Meeting ballot. Doing so would avoid special election costs.
Candidates for all May posts are required to file paperwork by March 28, she said.
Several positions are open to candidate filings for the May Town Meeting, including two spots in the town assessor’s office, one position on the Board of Health, cemetery commissioner, town moderator, town clerk, two library trustees, two posts on the Planning Board, a Redevelopment Authority post, two seats on the School Committee, town collector and treasurer.
Moriarty also faces re-election.
Jack Suntrup can be reached at jsuntrup@gazettenet.com.