Windham Supervisor Tom Hoyt ripped up a newspaper and threw the pieces at his election challenger, Connor Exum, during an Oct. 8 Town Board meeting after Exum showed him an ad criticizing the town’s review of a proposed luxury hotel.

Exum, a Democrat, is challenging Hoyt for the second year in a row in the Nov. 3 election.

Exum said he’d planned to ask Hoyt whether Planning Board Chair Lisa Jaeger should recuse herself from the board’s review of the hotel because she also chairs the Windham Chamber of Commerce, which lists the Windham Mountain Club as a top sponsor. Three of the board’s six members have already recused themselves from club matters; if Jaeger stepped aside, the board would lack a quorum to vote on the project.

Exum, 45, the only member of the public at the meeting last week, spoke after Hoyt, 60, opened the public comment period. Hoyt flipped through documents as Exum asked whether he’d seen a full-page ad in the Windham Weekly, a section of the Mountain Eagle newspaper, urging readers to “Fix Windham Planning Board Immediately” and “Hold Windham Town Board Members Accountable.”

Exum then walked to the board’s table and placed the page on top of Hoyt’s meeting materials.

“You know what,” Hoyt said as he stood. He tore the newspaper three times, crumpled it, and tossed it at Exum, who caught most of it, and then bent over to pick up the rest. 

At the behest of other board members, Hoyt, a Republican, moved to adjourn the meeting and then walked out of the room.

“Make sure you got that comment so you can put it on social media,” Hoyt said to Exum. “You’re about crossing a line over to harassment.”

“I didn’t harass you, I asked you a question,” Exum said. The board then called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Exum said he wasn’t finished. 

Hoyt stood by his actions in an interview this week.

“Public servants deserve to get treated respectfully,” he said. “I find no humor when an individual crosses the line.”

Asked what “the line” was, Hoyt said he’d leave that up to interpretation.

“It’s decorum, common decorum,” he said. “If you’re sitting at a table and someone storms up to you, and when they get to you they abruptly stop and set a piece of paper in front of your face, what do you do? Flee, fight, or cry? Everybody has a defense reaction built into their body.”

In an interview this week, Exum said he feared for a moment that Hoyt would hit him.

“For about 10 seconds there or whatever it takes him to get that close to me, I sincerely believed that he might actually make it even more physical than just throwing the paper at me,” Exum said.

Exum said he thought Hoyt’s accusation of harassment stemmed from a belief that Exum had placed the ad.

“I had absolutely nothing to do with that,” Exum said. “I didn’t even know the ad existed until that morning when I bought the paper.”

The ad listed Hoyt’s town email address and a link to Our Windham, a website launched in September by a group that describes itself as Windham residents, property owners, and business owners. The group is collecting petition signatures and urging residents to submit comments seeking a pause in approval of Windham Mountain Club’s proposed 26-room hotel until the Town Board reviews the proposal and officials clarify how the town’s zoning law applies. The Planning Board is reviewing the hotel as an amendment to the club’s already-approved master plan.

A sign with the same slogans has gone up off state Route 23 on land owned by Wylder Hotels. It was unclear this week who placed the newspaper ad.

Exum, who publishes articles on Substack, has repeatedly criticized Hoyt for what he calls a lack of transparency in town government, particularly during the Planning Board’s review of the hotel.

The club announced the boutique hotel, planned off Resort Drive, earlier this year. The proposal has drawn criticism from local residents and business owners and prompted a broader conversation about how the club’s semi-privatization has affected tourism in Windham.

Windham hoteliers initially said the hotel wasn’t needed, citing low occupancy at their properties. Criticism has since expanded to questions about the review process and the Planning Board’s ties to the club.

Exum and John Flannigan, CEO of Wylder Hotels, have separately called for Jaeger to recuse herself because she also chairs the Windham Chamber of Commerce which is sponsored by the Mountain Club.

Jaeger is one of three members of the six-person board who can vote on club-related proposals. Members Ray Curtis, Michael Troccoli, and Claudia Lane have recused themselves because of ties to the club. Curtis is a ski instructor, Troccoli is a club member, and Lane’s employer is “connected to the club,” according to minutes from the board’s March 19 meeting. Lane hasn’t responded to requests for comment. 

The club is listed on the chamber’s website as a “platinum sponsor,” its highest sponsorship level, and Wylder is listed as a “gold sponsor.” The club also sponsored the purchase of a banner advertising the chamber’s Autumn Affair, held Oct. 10-11. Windham Mountain Club President Kristen Leach is also on the chamber’s board of directors.

Exum described the relationship as a “soft corruption issue,” saying that even ties that aren’t necessarily illegal could influence planning decisions. 

“Does he feel now that there’s enough reason to start questioning Lisa Jaeger’s role in this decision?” Exum said. “Should he ask her to recuse herself or even better, perhaps step down, because there’s so much evidence supporting that she has a strong connection to the Windham Mountain Club through the Windham Chamber of Commerce?”

Jaeger said this week she had no intention of recusing herself.

“I don’t think it’s a conflict,” she said. “We live in a small town. We all wear multiple hats. Ultimately, we are all in alignment that we all do what we do because we love this community.”

Flannigan has also said Jaeger and alternate member John O’Neill “pre-judged” the application through statements at an Aug. 24 meeting, when they indicated they didn’t think the hotel would have a greater environmental impact than the townhouses it would replace.

The Our Windham website hosts a petition asking the town to confirm whether the hotel falls under its new zoning law and to pause any approval until it “completes the review required” by Section 6-8 C (3) of the law. The provision requires developers proposing changes to an approved master plan to submit them first to the Town Board, which decides whether they merit further review by the Planning Board.

Allyson Phillips, special counsel to the Planning Board, has said the proposal is grandfathered because the club’s master plan was proposed before the zoning law took effect, so no zoning review is needed.

The petition also cites a June 2025 development agreement between the town and the club. The agreement describes 46 townhouses, 20 single-family house lots, and improvements to the adventure park and golf course, but doesn’t identify a hotel. It also sets requirements for public ski access and water infrastructure and says it can be amended only in writing signed by all parties.

Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea said at an Aug. 27 Town Board meeting that the Town Board can’t weigh in until the Planning Board finishes its review.

“The Planning Board reviews what comes before them,” he said. “Once they get to the end of that process, then it would be referred here. If and when it does get referred here, there might be amendments to that development agreement. We’re not going to get in front of the Planning Board’s process first.”

Connor Greco is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Windham, Hunter, and surrounding Greene County communities. Send correspondence to connor@theoverlooknews.com.