In a Massachusetts town known for its contentious Board of Selectmen meetings, Tuesday night was no exception after a heated exchange between a selectman and a resident.
That exchange led Stoughton Selectman Peter Brown to resign but the Chair of the Board says not so fast.
The exchange happened during the public comments section of Tuesday night's meeting, when Brown and Patrica Colburn, a Stoughton resident, started going back and forth, talking over each other.
"This meeting tonight was an absolute embarrassment, an absolute embarrassment," Colburn said at one point.
"Excuse me Ms. Colburn, you want to make the allegations, you should listen, no, this is not what this is about Mr. Brown. I will not be yelled at for calling you on this stuff," Brown replied.
"I had enough of your nonsense. You and everyone else that is in the recall," Brown went on say, referencing a Dec. 5 recall election. "You call us out and you say things and you expect us to take it and say, 'oh, no big deal?' We are big bad boys."
Reached outside her home Tuesday night, Colburn said the exchange still bothered her.
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"My first thought was, here we go again," she said. "All I do is stand up and he loses control."
"Unfortunately it is like the fourth time it's happened to me, I expect it, but I'm shocked every time it does," she added. "The level of anger."
David Souza, Chairman of the Board of Selectman defended Brown Wednesday night.
"We are not out of line, we have passion for this town, we love this town," Souza said. "Are we polished and all of that? I'm not polished and we know we are not polished but our heart burns with the black and orange of the Town of Stoughton."
Twenty minutes after Tuesday night's exchange, Brown told the crowd he had just received a phone call from his daughter.
"I just got a call from my daughter who was visibly upset and told me that I was an embarrassment and I agree with her," Brown said. "I am going to apologize to the residents of Stoughton and I am going to officially resign. I am no longer going to be on the Board of Selectman."
"I'm giving my notice this instant," he added.
On Wednesday night, Souza said he hadn't received anything. To officially resign, Brown would need to submit a letter of resignation to the Town Clerk and Souza.
"Mr. Brown is still a member of Selectmen and will be a member of the Board of Selectmen until I see a letter," Souza said.
Through Souza, Brown declined to comment to NBC Boston.
"This is not anyone's dirty laundry, this is our hometown laundry, it happens," Souza said.
