MARION — A memorial bench for former Carver Marion Wareham Regional Waste Disposal District Director Ray Pickles was shot down by Selectmen at a March 2 meeting.

The bench was proposed by Diane Bondi-Pickles to commemorate the life of her husband, who died in December.

But the Selectmen denied the request, citing accusations from a lawsuit involving the Pickles’ that was dropped last April.

The lawsuit alleged that Bondi-Pickles and former District Board Chairman Robert Tinkham had a role in embezzling $838,457 of CMW district funds, but the district’s governing committee ended the lawsuit because the legal action would have cost more than it was likely to recover.

The district fired Pickles in January 2018 when he asked for more funds for the first time in five years — along with irregularities emerging in the district’s finances. A civil embezzlement suit was brought against Pickles in June 2018.

Less than a year later, in March 2019, the state Attorney General’s Office and Inspector General’s Office indicted Pickles and Tinkham.

“A lot of money was missing when Ray was involved,” Selectman Norm Hills said.

Bondi-Pickles denied that she or her husband had anything to do with the missing money, and noted that the case was dropped and never went to trial.

“Ray was very concerned that the Selectmen at the time and the Town Administrator at the time didn’t understand CMW,” Bondi-Pickles said.

The board voted unanimously to deny the request for a memorial bench, and Bondi-Pickles said she’d be back to propose the bench again.

“Well, I will see you next year — some of you, maybe,” Bondi-Pickles said. “Some of you maybe not.”