Chichester’s town administrator, Cindy Starkweather, is back in the office ten days after submitting her resignation to the town.
Starkweather initially left the position after less than three months on the job following a heated Board of Selectmen meeting at the start of the month where Selectmen Matt Stolnis raised his voice at her, the other board members, and attendees.
At a selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday night, Stolnis apologized for his behavior at the previous meeting.
After entering a nonpublic session at the end of the evening, the board voted to “reinstate” Starkweather effective Wednesday morning with an annual salary of $89,000.
Starkweather began in the role at the start of November, sharing with residents that she was pleased to be working for the town and that she wanted to promote a culture of open communication. She advocated for civility at a time when Chichester’s meetings have grown contentious over municipal transparency, financial spending and other factors.
“Transparency and communication is exactly what I intended for by serving as your Town Administrator,” Starkweather wrote in a Facebook post last week.
Over the past year, the town has experienced upheaval in its municipal office, beginning with the resignation of longtime town administrator Jodi Pinard in December 2024.
Pinard was rehired and given a $31,000 raise in February. She stayed in the role until July, when the board offered her a new, lower salary, which she declined. Interim town administrator Charles Smith assumed the position in July and left the town a month later.
With her return, Chichester will enter budget deliberations and Town Meeting season with a full-time town administrator, putting it in a different position than this time last year.