A Raymond resident wants to recall several town officials in the wake of Town Manager Joseph Crocker’s abrupt resignation announcement last week.

The town held an emergency meeting Monday night, most of which was behind closed doors in executive session.

Residents attending the meeting praised Crocker for enlivening the town during his brief tenure as town manager and his five-year stint as head of Raymond’s Parks and Recreation Department. But some were at odds over what could have caused the resignation and what steps to take next.

Some residents alleged that there was a toxic work environment at the town office. One woman proposed a recall of some town officials, while others called for civility and worried that the town was falling apart.

Outside the broadcast studio at Jordan Small Middle School, where the meeting was held, Teresa Sadak encouraged people to sign petitions calling for the recall of Select Board members Kaela Gonzalez and Denis Morse, as well as Finance Committee member Don Willard.

Sadak accused the three of micromanaging, creating a divisive atmosphere, publicly denigrating employees and not putting the best interest of Raymond first. She praised Crocker for bringing a sense of community to the town. At the meeting, she alleged that the Select Board “broke” Crocker, and that publicizing the resignation by posting it on the town Facebook was a breach of protocol.

“The town is at a big loss,” she said of Crocker’s resignation, “and we’ll never get it back.”

Some residents criticized town officials for posting communications about the resignation on social media in an attempt to quell rumors about his interactions with the board.

Crocker has not spoken publicly about his reasons for resigning.

Other residents at the meeting said they were skeptical of the recall efforts. Frank McDermott said he believed Sadak’s recall threats were vindictive and had no basis in fact. He alleged that Sadak’s reasoning for the recall was based more in her personal opinions of the town officials, and had nothing to do with Crocker.

Deputy Town Clerk Sue Carr said that she had enjoyed working with Crocker and praised him for growing Raymond’s then new Parks and Recreation Department during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. She worried that the town was going to “go down the tubes” without Crocker, and said she was considering resigning herself after 18 years working for the town.

Crocker was the third person to serve in the post in the past 20 months.

Char Jewell said the turnover in the town manager position is troublesome, but said that the situation was an opportunity for the board to do some reflection, and encouraged it to figure out who would be the right person for the job, and to treat them with dignity and respect.

Jennifer Danzig also called on the town to turn down the temperature, saying that she was afraid that the town’s politics were on the verge of becoming as polarized as national politics. Danzig thanked everyone who runs for municipal government, and said that all the secondhand rumors were unfair to Crocker.