It’s been a week since the Select Board voted unanimously to censure former chair Don Ludwig for his derogatory posts to the X social media platform and asked him to resign.
But Tuesday night, giving no indication he planned to honor his colleagues’ request, Ludwig returned to his virtual seat on the board and, prompted by an attendee, offered an apology.
Since her election as chair Feb. 21, replacing Ludwig, SusanMary Redinger has modified the Select Board’s agenda to invite public comment at both the start and the end of each meeting. It was in the final moments of public comment Tuesday that Ludwig finally responded to the deluge of complaints he and the board have received since his online behavior was made public.
His response was prompted by a final comment from Susan Tarrant of Oak Hill Road, who had been present for the discussion of both the fiscal 2026 budget and 2025 Town Meeting warrant. “I can see the problem here, Mr. Ludwig,” she said. “In terms of your financial expertise, I’ve really enjoyed listening in to the meeting tonight, but I think it’s time at the very least, that you apologize to the town for causing all this ruckus and pledge yourself to the code of conduct. … If you’re going to stay on the board … at least until May, that’s what my request would be.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Ludwig responded. “Why don’t I address that?” he said to Redinger, who was about to adjourn the meeting. “I absolutely apologize for any hurt that was caused,” he said. “I think I expressed that to the board. I acknowledged it, I accepted it. I stepped down as chair. So just to go on record, … I will abide by the code of conduct. [It was] never my intention to not abide by it. So I do apologize to everyone involved.”
During public comment at the start of Tuesday’s meeting, four of the 63 remote attendees asked to speak and urged Ludwig to step down. The business portion of the meeting proceeded with no further comment on Ludwig’s participation.
In an email to the Press Wednesday evening, Tarrant wrote that “Ludwig brings financial insight to the serious budget issues the town faces and I appreciate that the Select Board needs everyone on deck to face the stormy waters ahead.” But, she added, “To my mind he is not yet fully cognizant of what indiscriminate hate speech involves. We are not personally ‘hurt.’ … We object to someone with those values, or lack thereof, representing us.”
