CHARLESTOWN – A week after James M. Mageau announced he would become the next council president and appoint himself acting vice president, one of his supporters flipped his vote, backing instead incumbent Katharine H. Waterman.

Waterman, the top vote getter in the Nov. 7 election, was unanimously elected to the position last night

Harriet A. Allen, also an incumbent, was unanimously elected vice president.

Councilman John O. Craig’s change of mind came after a two-week, behind-the-scenes campaign when residents flooded him with calls and e-mails.

The newly sworn-in council – three independents and two Democrats – also appointed, on a 3-to-2 vote, former Town Administrator Edward M. Barrett as acting town administrator effective today through Dec. 28, when the resignation of the previous administrator, Richard J. Sartor, will become effective. The terms of his hiring have not been negotiated.

Sartor submitted his resignation on Nov. 8 and started taking accrued time the following day.

Waterman and Allen voted against the appointment, arguing more time was needed to consider other applicants.

“The appointment of Ed Barrett comes as a surprise to me,” Waterman said after the meeting. “I wouldn’t have done it like that. [But] majority is the majority.”

Allen was to call Barrett last night to ask him if he would accept the position. The Providence Journal could not reach Barrett for comment last night.

Barrett, of Duxbury, Mass., was hired in September 2000 and fired in June 2001 after some council members said he had failed to work with them.

At the time, Craig, who served as council president, and the council vice president resigned following Barrett’s firing.

On Nov. 13, Craig, an independent, and Democrats Mageau and Bruce Picard announced they had met the day before and decided to support Mageau as the next council president and Craig as vice president. They cited a need for leadership change. Mageau later said he would appoint himself acting administrator.

Mageau said the announcement was intended to quash rumors and stop the calls to Craig asking him to support another candidate for council president. But the announcement only increased the number of calls and e-mails, and Craig eventually flipped his vote.

Craig said “common sense” prevailed. “We need to listen to the will of the people and do what’s best for the town,” he said, adding he had put behind his concerns over Waterman’s support of Sartor.

Many of the hundreds of residents who filled the Charlestown Elementary School’s cafeteria/gymnasium – where the meeting was moved as the crowd exceeded the 100-person council chamber’s capacity – approached Craig after the meeting to congratulate, thank and hug him.

“What’s not to like, John? You are a good man,” one man said.

A woman approached him and thanked him for listening to the will of the people.

Otherwise “I’d have to move,” Craig joked.

But the volume of calls had been such, that Craig’s wife, Lynn F. Craig, stepped up to the microphone to ask people to “please respect council [members’] homes and [the] privacy of their family.”

Waterman, whose election was received with a long ovation, thanked people for their support but urged them “to keep the calls, e-mails and letters coming.”

“It really is up to you to keep Charlestown the town we love and the place we want to live,” she read from a statement.

“It has taken a virtual firestorm to stimulate the political juices of Charlestown,” Waterman said. “And we have not begun to put out that fire, much less repair the damage that has been done in two short weeks.

“We are now at a critical juncture. We have too much to lose, and so much to protect.”

Waterman addressed the need to support Town Hall employees and uphold the town’s zoning ordinances, which a developer is challenging in Washington County Superior Court. Through her statements, Waterman was addressing rumors that Mageau’s council faction intended to fire the town consultants – which include two planners and the wastewater management director – and the town solicitors.