Potash Brook residents list concerns about neighbor’s behavior

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Residents of the Potash Brook Road area brought a long list of complaints to the Chester Select Board last Wednesday concerning a neighbor they say has problems with mental illness that have manifested in break-ins, thefts and other criminal and nuisance behaviors. However, all who spoke said they wanted to make sure the man got help and didn’t injure anyone — including himself.

Sean Snyder, who owns a home next door to the man — identified as Ashley Griffin,  said that he no longer lives in his Potash Brook home and that his children are afraid to go there, even to play in the fields behind the house. Snyder described confrontations with Griffin, saying that he has experienced break-ins and thefts.

Snyder called Griffin a threat and said he hopes he gets the help he needs. The issue is that when Griffin offends, he gets treatment which stabilizes him and is released. Then when he gets off his medications, the behaviors return.

Tim Roper referred to his own family as Griffin’s “newest victims” and said Griffin is “expanding the area he terrorizes.” Roper recounted the late night Griffin walked into their home. Roper added that Griffin should not be living alone because, when he stops taking his medications, he becomes “criminally inappropriate.”

Snyder’s mother Patricia Snyder said this situation has been upsetting her son’s family and hers for years. She reiterated that Snyder’s children are afraid to go to the house, and added that Snyder also can’t sell the house and can’t rent it out.

“We want this man to get the help he needs,” said Patricia Snyder.

Mary Jane Miles recounted one bitterly cold day when Griffin went out to his mailbox naked and another day when he ran out in front of her car and she nearly hit him.

“There are people who need to be in a care facility and supervised,” said Miles. “I’m angry but I worry about his welfare. He may not make it out of a situation.”

Potash Brook resident Gladys Collins asked board chair Arne Jonynas to read two of the letters sent to the town, one from Carol Theodore and one from Daryl and Kathy Jo Martens.

In her letter to State’s Attorney Ward Goodenough,  Theodore describes the night she and her husband were asleep while her grandson and his friend were playing video games in their barn when they returned to the house and heard a noise in the loft above the Theodores’ bedroom. The young men turned on a flashlight to reveal a “large, disheveled strange man” at the top of the stairs and immediately called 911. Theodore recalled the trauma inflicted upon her grandson and said that she now feels “quite uncomfortable” on her own property.

In their letter to Attorney General Charity Clark, the Martens recounted problems that dated back to 2018, with Griffin suggesting that Daryl Martens’ church owed him $10,000 and demanding payment at various times. Things calmed down when Griffin received mental health care, the Martens’ wrote, but then this past February, Kathy Jo, driving home one evening, spotted Griffin walking, then found their front doors wide open when she got home.  Chester Police were already in the area having been called to respond to other complaints about Griffin that night.  The Martens’ letter also urged that Griffin receive more mental health care.

Many of those speaking thanked the Chester Police, saying that they understand the officers are limited in what they can do,

Emily Hawes, Vermont’s Commissioner of Mental Health, and Sue Graff, who serves as Springfield field director for the Vermont Agency of Human Services, both attended the meeting – Hawes via Zoom and Graff in person.

Jonynas told the group that the town is limited in what it can do in this situation, but that it would do what it can. Graff suggested that if the Griffin house is in bad shape, the town’s health officer could look into it.

Select Board member Arianna Knapp asked Graff how all of the letters from neighbors and the minutes of the meeting could get into a file that would be considered in any hearings or reviews that could influence the outcome in this matter.

Graff said the town could forward information to her and she would see that it got to the right place with the state of Vermont. 

Conflict of interest and multiple public offices

As they addressed a town conflict of interest policy created in 2016, board chair Arne Jonynas and new member Peter Hudkins had several testy exchanges during the 25-minute discussion. Jonynas explained that Select Board members are not supposed to sit on either the Planning Commission or the Development Review Board, positions that are appointed by the Select Board.

Attending his second meeting as a Select Board member,  Hudkins, who was elected in March and also sits on the Planning Commission, was  asked by Jonynas what his take on the policy was and what action he was going to take on it.

Hudkins told Jonynas that he ran of office on the idea of open communications and that there is an ongoing problem with the Select Board not communicating with the two other boards.

Hudkins said he would honor “your policy” but that he sees that having a Select Board member on the Planning Commission would make for greater communication. He said he could resign from the commission but still attend those meetings. But, Hudkins said, he doesn’t think the Select Board understands how much work the Planning Commission puts in.

There was some discussion about the policy including how and why it came about. In the end, Hudkins said he would resign from the commission to serve on the Select Board.