Chelmsford Select Board Member Abruptly Resigns After Outburst

Chelmsford MA

13 January, 2021

5:58 PM

Description

CHELMSFORD, MA — Select Board member Emily Antul abruptly resigned Wednesday after a heated exchange with a member of the Finance Committee during a joint meeting ended with her calling the other woman an offensive, derogatory name. "I am sorry for letting slip some inappropriate and highly offensive gender-specific language. It was wrong." Antul said in her resignation letter Wednesday. "I apologize to anyone who may feel offended by it." During the Jan. 11 joint meeting of the Select Board, School Committee and Finance Committee, the board members were discussing reaching out to elected officials about increasing state aid in town. Antul was nodding emphatically and added the town should push back against Gov. Charlie Baker's policies, criticizing him. "We need new revenue, we need a governor who has some vision and understanding of basic math, is what we need," she said. "And we need to push back hard..." There she was interrupted by Finance Committee Annita Tanini. "Excuse me, Emily, what have you done?" Tanini said. "I'm meeting with our new state rep. I'm meeting our new state rep from Precinct 4, are any of you coming to it?" After a pause, Antul started to respond, "Am I showing up on a day I have to work? No I'm... " Tanini and Antul then began to talk over one another. "I'm doing more than you, trust me, so do not go there," said Tanini. "Absolutely enough," Antul said, her voice rising. "Stop it. You interrupted me, and now you're insulting me. You want to know what I do? We can take this off line and I'll tell you what I do." As Select Board Chair Ken Lefebvre asked to move on, Antul leaned back in her chair and called Tanini an offensive and shocking name for a woman, her mic was not muted. Someone could be heard gasping, several people's mouths dropped open. There was a pause before the meeting continued. Antul has been a member of the Board of Selectmen since 2018. An elected Town Meeting member since 2014. Town elections are set for April 2, and Antul has said she was not planning to run for another term. "As we are within 100 days of our local election, the vacancy does not need to be filled," Town Clerk Tricia Dzuris said. See Antul's full resignation letter: