Mon, 06/13/2016 - 4:45pm

Watch the Camden Select Board candidates forum, pictured above, by clicking here: http://www.townhallstreams.com/locations/camden-me/events/32728/camden_town_hall Voters are encouraged to watch it thoroughly before casting votes tomorrow, June 14.

CAMDEN — This June Town Meeting promises some lively discussions on the floor June 15, at the Camden Opera House. Likewise, the polls have multiple articles and candidates to consider.

Two weeks ago, a Select Board Candidates’ Forum took place at Washington Street Meeting Room, where candidates vying for the one seat vacated by Martin Cates talked frankly about their positions and philosophies.

The forum was but one hour in length, and both Gian Angelo Gallace and Marc Ratner participated.

In submitting a bio, Gian-Angelo Gallace wrote: “I was born at the Camden Community Hospital in 1971 and attended Camden-Rockport public schools for my entire K-12 education. After graduating as salutatorian of my class in 1990, I moved on to Swarthmore College located outside of Philadelphia, and graduated with degrees in political science and history in 1996. Following college, a lifelong love of photography led me to a successful international career as a commercial photographer and filmmaker. A decade ago, I began to devote more of my time to producing contemporary fine art photography, painting and installations. I also began working on numerous humanitarian and ecological projects that have very much changed my life. I believe that my life-long presence in Camden combined with my substantial experience in the business, artistic, academic and non-profit sectors would be of great benefit to the citizens of Camden

“I firmly believe that the citizens of Camden are the owners of the Town of Camden. And, as such, should expect and demand the same results from Town officials as shareholders demand of managers of private companies. It is the duty of the Select Board to properly manage the finances of the Town by allocating sufficient reserve capital, correctly insuring against risk, increasing efficiency and allocating resources for specific high-value targeted investments.”

Marc Ratner submitted his bio:

“I’ve spent 45 years in business. I’ve spent almost 30 years doing volunteer work.

“Among the highlights of my business career are the 15 years I spent at Warner Bros. Records in Los Angeles – where I became Vice-President of Promotion - and the six years I was a promotion executive at DreamWorks Records. In both instances I helped develop the careers of a diverse roster of artists including Prince, Dire Straits, Madonna, Chicago, Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Cher, Nelly Furtado and Rufus Wainwright. Just as importantly I helped to manage our large promotion staffs who worked with our artists nationwide.

“I’ve also worked as a Reserve Deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. I spent seven of those years as a Reserve Captain running a search and rescue team.

“In both instances the consequences of the work was serious. A misstep in the music world could rob a deserving and talented artist of their entire career and livelihood. Even more importantly – a misstep in search and rescue could cost someone their life.

“Even though we lived in Los Angeles at the time – my wife and I chose to come back to Camden for our wedding in 2004. When our son was a year old we knew that Camden would provide the ideal place for him to grow up and we moved here almost nine years ago and I’ve been running my music artist management and record business in Camden since then.

“I’ve spent years learning about the town and have invested much time and energy in Camden – for the past two years as the Chair of the Camden Opera House Committee – working to expand our offerings so that all of our citizens have affordable and appropriate shows to attend, as a member of the town energy committee – working to cut our energy costs by investigating solar energy and doing things as simple as providing better insulation in town buildings, and as a member of the school committee working to find a more affordable solution to our middle school situation than was put forth previously.”

The link to the forum is here: http://www.townhallstreams.com/locations/camden-me/events/32728/camden_town_hall. Voters are encouraged to watch it thoroughly before casting votes tomorrow, June 14.

And, three weeks prior, another forum took place, this one to introduce the school board candidates to the public. That forum also lasted for one hour and can be found here: http://www.townhallstreams.com/locations/camden-me/events/32443/camden_town_hall

The following is an election newsletter distributed by the Camden Town Office, June 13.

The town produced a short video about each warrant article. View it here: http://www.townhallstreams.com/locations/camden-me/events/32756/camden_town_hall

Tuesday, June 14th between 8am-8pm - voting is held at the Camden Public Safety Building on lower Washington Street.

Town Meeting takes place the following evening, Wednesday, June 15th at 7pm at the Camden Opera House.

This email offers supplemental explanations of the questions that you'll be asked on the ballot. Information will arrive in two emails - this one pertains to Tuesday's ballot questions, and the next email will address Wednesday's Town Meeting questions.Please pass these emails on to friends and neighbors who may not be subscribed to the Town Newsletter service.

To see what the Municipal Ballot will look like, click here:

Municipal Sample Ballot

Other ballots you will see on Tuesday include:

CSD 19 Sample Ballot, MSAD 28 Sample Ballot

Democratic Primary Sample Election Ballot,

Republican Primary Sample Election Ballot

Background on questions on video

To watch a brief video information on the ballot questions, click on this link.

See a video on the issues to be decided at the Wednesday Town Meeting at this link.

(fast forward just a bit - you'll see it takes a minute to start)

Info on the ballot questions:

plain talk

Here are the articles you'll be asked to vote on when you enter the voting booths on Tuesday. Brief explanations appear for your reference below each article as listed:

Article 2:

* To elect one Select Board Member for a three year term (Select Board members serve as Overseers of the Poor and Wastewater Commissioners)

* Two Directors of Maine School Administrative District #28/CSD #19 for three year terms; and

* One member of the Personnel Board for a three-year term.

Candidates for the one open Select Board seat to serve a 3-year term are Gian Gallace and Mark J. Ratner.
Three School Board candidates are running for two available seats on the SAD 28 and Five Town CSD boards. The candidates are Rebecca S. Flanagan, M. Eileen Morelli and Peter Orne.
Write-in candidates are expected for the seat on the Personnel Board since no one is running.

ARTICLES 3 - 6 ARE ZONING AMENDMENTS.

ARTICLES 7 - 9 RELATE TO THE TOWN CHARTER.

THE FOUR ZONING QUESTIONS ARE:

Article 3

Shall the Town vote to amend Article VIII, Section 7, Traditional Village District (C) Uses Permitted as Special Exceptions, (5) of the Camden Zoning Ordinance be amended to add subsection 5 which would allow certain large existing nonconforming houses to add additional dwelling units upon receiving a "Special Exception" from the zoning Board of Appeals.

Info on Article 3: This article allows those who own a residence of over 5,000 square feet to add an additional unit or two as long as they have 4,000 sq. feet of lot area per unit. This does not allow for expansion of the footprint or height and requires the availability of off-street parking for each unit. Additional units wouldn't be permitted in the shoreland zone. The Planning Board felt that this was a good alternative for some of Camden's older, larger homes that might not be as applicable to the needs of today's families. The amendment was supported unanimously by the Planning Board and Select Board.

Article 4

Shall the Town vote to amend Article XI Signs, Section 10 of the Camden Zoning Ordinance be amended to allow limited Seasonal Farm Stand signs and limited temporary Farmers' Market signs in the right-of-way in certain locations as allowed by 23 M.R.S.A. § 1913.

Info on Article 4: Camden currently does not allow for proper advertisement for these types of farm stands to adequately promote their businesses. At this time there are two farms in Camden that produce and sell their products on site. This article will allow each farm to have up to four signs within 5 miles of their location. This amendment also establishes standards for signage for the Farmer's Market so the market can only have their signs up on the days that they're open.

Article 5

Shall the Town vote to incorporate the 2015 amendments to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection Chapter 1000 rules into the Camden Zoning Ordinance to keep Camden in compliance with 38 MRSA §435-449.

Info on Article 5: This question relates to the section of the DEP code that deals with Shoreland Zoning. Currently the shoreland zoning regulations are difficult to interpret and understand, and are about 60 pages long. The state has recommended that local jurisdictions adopt these changes which will make the Shoreland Zoning regulations much easier for the applicant and also easier to review the applications. Though the process becomes more practical, this does not increase density in the shoreland zones. Shorelands will still be protected from overdevelopment.

Article 6

Shall the Town vote to repeal of existing Floodplain Ordinance and replace with proposed updated Floodplain Management Ordinance which references the new Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps.

Infor on Article 6: This change has been driven from the federal level where the federal agencies have reestablished the elevations of our various local floodplains. The agencies have essentially given the town direction that these are the new floodplain maps that we need to follow.

THREE QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE TOWN CHARTER

Camden first adopted a charter (which is like the "constitution" of a community) in 1934. The Town Charter has not been reviewed in several years. It underwent a major revision in 1978, and there have been very few changes since then. Three changes are recommended as follows:

Article 7

Shall the Town vote to amend the Town Charter Article II, Section 6 to remove the amount of compensation from the Charter and have Select Board compensation established by vote at annual town meeting

Info on Article 7: This proposed amendment would remove the specific compensation figure for the 5-member Select Board from the Town Charter so that current residents can have a say in setting that figure each year. This is considered a housekeeping measure, since usually an amount of compensation is not included in a charter. If passed, this would allow the Select Board's compensation to be set by the Town's Budget Committee during the budget process each spring and would then be approved by the voters at the annual June Town Meeting. This amendment would not affect the Select Board's rate of pay.

Article 8

Shall the Town vote to amend the Town Charter Article I Section 4(d), Article IV, Part C and Article VI to establish a Single Assessor rather than have the Select Board serve as the Board of Assessors

Info on Article 8: Through the years, the nature of Town government has evolved from being completely run by elected officials to having staff on hand to assist with the work. In Camden, one title still left from a bygone era is that the Select Board also serves as the "Board of Assessors". While this board exists, the actual work of assessing values is done by an "Assessor's Agent" who performs all aspects of property assessment. This amendment to the charter would move us from having an acting Board of Assessors to recognizing that duties are performed by a single trained and certified Assessor. This would modify the charter to accurately reflect how assessment happens in the day-to-day operations of the town. From a practical standpoint, this will not change how these tasks are performed in Camden. It's important to note that the Select Board still retains the ultimate responsibility and authority to set the Town's tax rate.

Article 9

Shall the Town vote to amend the Town Charter Article VII, Section 5 to allow the Select Board to include a brief information note that explains each ballot question to be voted on through secret ballot

Info on Article 9: Currently, informational notes meant as background explanation are not allowed to be included on the ballot. This change would allow notes to appear with the goal of helping voters be fully informed when they're at the polls. It would also permit notes to be included as to whether the items had been supported by the Select Board, Planning Board, and/or other applicable committees. This change is for informational purposes only and does not modify any other aspect of the voting process.

Thank you for participating in the Town process and for voting at the polls on Tuesday! A subsequent email will bring you information about the questions that will be addressed at Wednesday Town Meeting.