RICHMOND – Voting along party lines, the new Town Council named B. Joe Reddish III president and Erick A. Davis vice president. Both are Democrats.

Motions nominating Republican Henry Oppenheimer, vice president under the previous council and the top vote getter in the Nov. 7 election, never came up for a vote as the Democrats secured a majority.

With less than four hours after being sworn in, the new council had to discuss the fate of town Treasurer Gary T. Tedeschi, whose term expired and was asking the council for a salary increase.

The council asked Tedeschi to remain on the job until the next meeting, on Dec. 5, when council members are expected to vote on whether they will raise his salary, retain him on a temporary base at a higher salary or let him go.

An executive session to review Tedeschi’s performance was scheduled Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The new council members, along with other elected officers, were sworn in by outgoing Lt. Gov. Charles Fogarty shortly after the previous council adjourned its meeting. Seventy-nine people packed the council chambers, which has a 45-person maximum capacity.

Fogarty, who previously served three terms on the Glocester Town Council, commented on the attendance, noting, “This will be the only time when you’ll have Town Hall full of people wishing you well.”

“Local government is the more challenging form of government and also the most rewarding,” Fogarty reminded the new council members, three of whom were holding elected office for the first time.

It’s challenging to please residents who feel strongly about their community, “but it’s also very rewarding because you get to see first hand the results of your efforts,” Fogarty said, referring to outgoing Council President W. Michael Sullivan’s previous comments highlighting the town’s changes over the past 18 years.

Sullivan referred to the changes in the Police Department, which went from “a group of well-intended folks in an 8-by-20 trailer” to a “Police Department that I’m tremendously proud of.” He referred to the creation of the Department of Public Works, a senior/community center that in Sullivan’s words “has had its growth pains from time to time, but it’s there,” and the addition of a planner to the town staff.

“It’s a town I’ve grown to love, take good care of it,” Sullivan told the new council members, urging them to follow the “stewardship in financial terms of Councilman Oppenheimer.”

Going into regular business after a short break, the new council members clashed with incumbents when it came to renewing licenses.

Douglas E. Tuthill said license renewals should not be held because of a staff oversight, if the business owner filed the necessary paperwork. Tuthill’s comments sparked an immediate response from Oppenheimer and Town Clerk Mary Morgan who said whenever the paperwork is not forwarded to the council, it is because it hasn’t been filed with the town.

“I cannot remember a time when the town clerk’s office did not provide all the paperwork that was provided to them,” Oppenheimer said.

The slight disagreement was quickly settled as council members unanimously voted to renew licenses subject to all requirements being met.