Following a December 11 meeting where the Board of Finance ended its meeting prematurely in a deadlock over a vote for chairman, the board nominated and elected member Jim Gaston as its chairman at its December 21 meeting.

Gaston, a Democrat, was primarily opposed by Republican and Republican-aligned members who put forth Steven Goodridge as chairman on December 11. Goodridge was named vice-chairman at the December 21 meeting.

Notably, the duration of the appointment for both chair and vice-chair was one year, until December 24, 2024. It is likely that the chairmanship and vice-chairmanship will change hands between Gaston and Goodridge following that date.

On December 11, the meeting was adjourned after roughly 20 minutes following a 3-3 deadlock along political lines. The board did not complete all the items listed on its posted agenda.

Goodridge served the previous two years as the Board of Finance’s vice-chairman and Gaston previously served 14 years as either a chairman or vice-chairman on the board.

The board engaged in a discussion concerning both candidates, some points raised including whether the top vote getter should be chairman, whether Goodridge’s more recent experience was more valuable than Gaston’s longer duration of experience, and how previous split boards handled chairmanship. Among those times was a one year/one year split between the Democrat and Republican chairman and vice chairman in 2015, where Gaston similarly shared the chairmanship with his Republican counterpart.

In the end, without a chair, board member Barney Molloy suggested tabling the question for a chair to “give time to reflect and discuss,” and Gaston called for adjournment because the board could not continue without a chairman.

At the December 21 meeting, which was a special meeting and not the regularly scheduled meeting — the board’s next scheduled meeting was December 28, but that meeting was cancelled — the chairmanship and vice-chairmanship was decided amicably, with little discussion.

The board then completed its business, hearing a report from First Selectman Jeff Capeci, and approving a $100,000 appropriation for motor vehicle tax recovery, which was previously approved by the Board of Selectmen.

Editor Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.