The aftershock of Eric S. Martins’ election to the School Committee reverberated throughout town on Thursday as PTO members and parents absorbed the news.

“I just can’t believe that 900 people crawled out from under a rock and voted for him,” said Jeanne Cawley, president of the high school’s parent-teacher group. “Are they that oblivious to what’s going on? I’m still in shock. I really am.

“It’s kind of scary. You couldn’t help but hear Eric Martins’ name last week,” Cawley said. “You’d have to live in a vacuum not to hear about that controversy.”

In the election, Martins received 918 votes and, instead of declining the post as promised, he announced Wednesday he had decided to serve.

He won despite publicity that he was charged twice with indecent exposure. Martins, 35, said the charges were “fabricated,” and juries found him not guilty in both cases.

Martins, who is a Cub Scout den leader and whose son is in the Scouts, left for a Boy Scout trip to Disney World in Florida after the election. He said he would not have time to be sworn in before leaving and would not be able to attend a School Committee meeting this afternoon.

Congrats, Westport, you’ve restored my faith in democracy. Here I am, up in my ivory tower, thinking to myself “Man, maybe you’re falsely accused of indecent exposure once but who the fuck ends up getting busted for that twice and is actually innocent. And yeah, maybe he got off twice but have you ever seen the mouth-breathing freakshows that actually end up serving on juries. Considering if this guy ends up on the School Committee, he could be running around flashing his junk at every school in Westport, I’m gonna play this one safe and NOT vote for the guy who’s been accused of indecent exposure twice to be a member of the School Committee. Also, the guy is taking a bunch of Scouts to Disney World. Yeah, voting for this guy is basically like making me an accessory to whatever sick crime this fuckhead commits next.”

But not 918 people in Westport. They saw through the indecent exposure arrests and saw a man just burning to do whatever he could to mold the boys and girls of Westport- as if they were clay in his delicate hands- into fine, outstanding (almost certainly fucked in the head) adults.

Also, Eric Martin has just announced that all Westport School Committee meetings are now pants optional.