LAKEVILLE — Richard LaCamera announced that he is stepping down from his position as Select Board Chair during a Select Board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

LaCamera will continue to serve on the Select Board until his term expires in 2023.

The announcement happened at the first Select Board meeting after the Nov. 14 Special Town Meeting, when voters differed from LaCamera on two significant issues.

Town Meeting voters opted against cleaning the hospital site and developing a warehouse on the land. Opponents of the hospital plan said a warehouse was not a good fit for the town.

The town voted in favor of expanding the Select Board. Proponents of the idea said an expanded board would represent a greater range of opinions within the town.

“I don’t want to serve as the Chairman of the Select Board anymore,” LaCamera said during the meeting. 

The resignation took fellow Select Board members Evagelia Fabian and Lorraine Carboni by surprise.

LaCamera then proposed a motion to appoint a new Select Board Chair. Neither Fabian nor Carboni volunteered to serve as Select Board Chair. The motion was not seconded by any other board member at the meeting.

“I think you provide a tremendous amount of value with what you do, the information that you have, and your experience,” Carboni said. “I would like to see that you maintain the position of Chair through the end of your term.”

“I don’t want to,” LaCamera said. “I don’t want to be the chair. I’m sorry.”

In an email statement, LaCamera said “I resigned as Chairman of the Select Board for personal reasons.”

LaCamera left the meeting after announcing his resignation from the role of chair. Since a new chair was not appointed at the meeting, he could not remain in the room without leading the meeting.

Fabian ran the meeting instead.

“I know he’s very frustrated,” Fabian said after LaCamera left. “I have a lot of his frustrations, too, because a lot of the information that we’re giving people isn’t necessarily wrong or false, and folks are just resistant to hearing it.”

Fabian and Carboni will decide who will replace LaCamera as Select Board Chair. No time frame was given for when that decision will be made.