June 2017 polls, Town Meetings, State ballot question: What you need to know before voting

LINCOLNVILLE — Sixty-one registered Lincolnville voters attended the annual Town Meeting June 15, when three of the seven winning candidates also appeared to be sworn in.

Paul Gibbons was the moderator, and reviewed the results of the secret ballot elections held June 13. Also present at the meeting was the town attorney, Sally Daggett, and Jodi Hanson, the town’s finance director and deputy treasurer. Seated at the opposite table were Select Board members Rosendel "Rosey" Gerry,…

Rockport citizens scrutinized proposed public spending at annual town meeting, poring especially over administrative and cultural budgets on the town warrant. After town meeting, as new select board members were sworn in, and a chairman and vice chairman were elected, the discussion once again turned to Rockport’s biggest issue: the public library – until, however, the town manager advised that the topic was not on the agenda, and needed to be advertised to the public before advancing (…

CAMDEN — The paper ballots and final tallies on Camden’s non-binding advisory referendum question were counted by hand after the polls closed Tuesday, June 13, and reported Wednesday morning, with the answer to Question 1, to “prohibit all retail sales of marijuana” coming down to a difference of 101 votes.

Camden voters voted 919 opposed and 818 in favor of prohibiting all retails sales of marijuana, defeating the question. The town’s marijuana referendum has no impact “whatsoever”…

Thank you for allowing me to represent you these past nine years as a member of the Rockport Select Board. I have enjoyed it almost every minute, though we had several very difficult decisions to make over those years.

And, congratulations to Mark, Doug and Tom. You have a lot of tough choices to make in the next few months, so good luck as well.

Bill Chapman
Retired

VINALHAVEN — Vinalhaven voters re-elected Donald Poole to Board of Selectmen Tuesday night, with 253 votes, and elected Jacob Thompson to the other open three-year seat, giving him 213 votes.

There were 82 blanks for the Board of Selectmen question, but 26 write-in votes cast for 19 people, including: Lee Osgood (4), Pat Lundholm (4), Dennis Warren (2), Sharon Philbrook (1), Emily Lane (1), George Andrews (1), Norman Young (1), Shawn Chiles (1), Del Webster (1), Alison Thibault (1),…

WARREN — The town of Warren reported a total of 184 voters turning out to the polls Tuesday, a hot, sweltering day across the Midcoast.

The State Bond issue was passed by a vote of 96 to 87.

On the Warren Board of Selectmen, Roger Peabody won seat #1 (three-year term) with 160 votes, and Wayne Luce won seat #2 (three-year term) with 150 votes.

For the openings on he RSU/SAD 40 School Board, Dennis Wooster was voted in to fill the open three-year term seat with 152 votes…

Lincolnville voters have elected two new faces – Joshua Gerritsen and Jonathan Fishman — to the Board of Selectmen, and two school board members.

Three candidates vied for two three-year terms.

The candidates received the following votes:

Sanford Delano, 227

Jonathan Fishman, 356

Joshua Gerritsen, 370

Three candidates also competed for two three-year seats on the Lincolnville School Committee.

The candidates received the following…

CAMDEN — More than 1,700 Camden voters lined up on a sweltering June 13, with temperatures pushing 90, to elect three new select board members.

Four candidates were vying for two three-year seats on the Camden Select Board, and as the initial tallies were read off the voting machines at around 8:15 p.m., Alison McKellar and Robert A. Falciani had won garnering 1,177 and 662 votes respectively. Christian Wincklhofer came in third with 559 votes followed by incumbent Donald A. White…

Yesterday I cast my ballot in favor of the middle school bond. I cast this vote as a citizen concerned about fiscal responsibility, respecting our community’s history and vision of the future, a mother of two children, but most of all as an advocate for students with special needs and someone deeply concerned about violence prevention and recovery. As a former school psychologist and a trauma survivor myself, I toured the current middle school with the perspective of children with…

I am writing to express my support and encourage Rockport voters to elect Brooke Kehoe for the Library Committee. Brooke is very familiar with the issues facing the Library Committee and is a supporter of building a new library in Rockport village. She is committed to helping Rockport move forward with a new library that will serve our community for years to come. I know Brooke to be fair-minded, ethical, organized and dedicated. She would be an excellent addition to the Library Committee.…

1)  Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself.

I was born in Washington county, grew up in Lubec, spent a time in the Army Military Police, then the last 35 years in civilian law enforcement holding various positions to include chief. Avid motorcycle enthusiast and traveler.

2)  What are the 3 most pressing issues facing Rockport…

Camden citizens have an extensive list of municipal business items before them June 13, at the polls (open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Camden Fire Station), and likewise even more June 14, when they gather at the Camden Opera House at 7 p.m. to decide how to spend taxpayer money, as well as ordinance amendments and other policy initiatives.

At the June 13 polls, there will be six ballots, each dealing with school, town or the one state bond issue.

…

Penobscot Bay Pilot has posed questions to each candidate running for the Camden Select Board, providing the opportunity for the public to better understand their position on issues important to the town and region.

1)  Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself.

I grew up in Delaware and moved to Maine after graduating from the University of Delaware in the mid-1990s with a B.A. in…

I am running for Rockport Select Board because I believe that we need a more diverse board, with a fresh perspective, to better represent our community. In my professional work I bring diverse groups of people together to create effective solutions that help everyone involved. I believe my experience will help our town government be more efficient and be able to complete projects with real results. Rockport residents need to feel that their voices are being heard and there is…

Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself.

I am a working, single mom who grew up on a farm in Vermont. I graduated from Bowdoin College in 1984 Magna Cum Laude with a major in History. After college, I lived in New York City (5 years), Northern California (8 years), and Los Angeles (2 years). I came back to Maine in November of 1999 to raise my son, Lucas, near my family. My parents have lived in Port Clyde for 30+ years. I own a small design and…

Penobscot Bay Pilot has posed questions to each candidate running for the Camden Select Board, providing the opportunity for the public to better understand their position on issues important to the town and region

1) Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself.

I grew up in southern New Hampshire. I have lived Camden for 26 years. Professionally I was in the on air broadcast industry for 20 years followed by a career in…

1)  Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself.

I grew up here in Camden, splitting my time with my dad, who still lives on Spruce Street, and my mom in North Union, just on the edge of the Burketville town line. I attended the Children's House Montessori School, Appleton Village School and Camden Hills Regional High School (2 years in Camden and 2 years at the Rockport facility). I attended college at Stetson University in…

Penobscot Bay Pilot has posed questions to each candidate running for the Camden Select Board, providing the opportunity for the public to better understand their position on issues important to the town and region.

Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself 

I was born at Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport and raised underfoot at The Waterfront Restaurant, opened by my father and his business partner Sam…

Penobscot Bay Pilot has posed questions to each candidate running for the Camden Select Board, providing the opportunity for the public to better understand their position on issues important to the town and region.

1) Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself.

My name is Christian Wincklhofer and I grew up in Rockport, Maine and attended high school at Camden Hills. After college and plenty of…

 Penobscot Bay Pilot has posed questions to each candidate running for the Rockport Select Board, providing the opportunity for the public to better understand their position on issues important to the town and region.

Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself 

I was born in Augusta where I started school at the old Farrington elementary school. My parents moved to the Chicago area when I was 7 for much the same reason so many of our…

Penobscot Bay Pilot has posed questions to each candidate running for the Camden Select Board, providing the opportunity for the public to better understand their position on issues important to the town and region.

1) Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself 

 Penobscot Bay Pilot has posed questions to each candidate running for the Rockport Select Board, providing the opportunity for the public to better understand their position on issues important to the town and region.

1)  Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself.

I am 65 years old and retired from my surgical practice at PBMC 3 years ago. I was born in Cleveland Ohio and during my childhood I lived briefly…

Penobscot Bay Pilot has posed questions to each candidate running for the Camden Select Board, providing the opportunity for the public to better understand their position on issues important to the town and region.

1) Please provide a concise (paragraph) biography of yourself

My name is Stephen Beveridge. I am running for the one year term for the Board of Selectmen. I was born in 1948 in Camden on Route 52, and 46 years ago I married a girl that…

Josh Gerritsen is seeking one of two three-year term positions, June 2017 to June June 2020, on the Lincolnville Board of Selectmen, Assessors and Overseers of the Poor.

Please provide a short biography of yourself.

I grew up in midcoast Maine and left to pursue a career elsewhere, like many young people do. I got a degree in Environmental Studies at Skidmore College and worked as a photographer in New York. After a decade away from Maine, I realized…

For a long time, running for public office is something I have meant to do because I believe that unless you are involved in some fashion with the decision making process, you have little right to complain about decisions being made for you. Little time was left me after long days at work and raising a family with my wife, Kathy, until retirement, which I've in realty flunked as I'm working almost full time at the Free Press newspaper as a salesperson in Waldo County.

Post-…

Sanford “Sandy” Delano is seeking one of two three-year term positions, June 2017 to June June 2020, on the Lincolnville Board of Selectmen, Assessors and Overseers of the Poor.

Please provide a short biography of yourself.

My dad, Buster Delano" was a Rockland boy who married a Lincolnville girl. My brother, John, and I enjoyed the best of both communities. School and sports in Rockland and summers on my grandparent’s farm on Youngtown Road…

CAMDEN/ROCKPORT — The red signs, Middle Matters, are ubiquitous throughout Camden and Rockport — at well-traveled intersections and on private front yards — indicating support for spending $26 million on tearing down the Camden-Rockport Middle School buiildings on Knowlton Street, in Camden, and replacing them with a brand new facility. There has been little opposition to demolishing the old high school, and Andrews Wing of the school, but some have questioned removing the Mary E. Taylor…

I am writing this letter to the Editor to share some of my insight since attending a few of Camden's Select Board candidate forums. It has opened my eyes to many important issues in our town.

When I sat there watching the beginning of the meeting, I noticed a young girl sitting at the candidate's table and thought "She is so young what can she do for the town?" Then I heard her speak and tell us her experiences on committees for our town and this caused me to think maybe she does have…

On June 13, the voters of Rockport and Camden will go to the polls to consider many decisions relating to town and school issues. One issue that may appear familiar to you will be whether or not to authorize the construction of a new middle school to serve about 200 students.

Having grown up in this school district, attending our local schools, working locally, marrying locally, rearing a couple of great children who also attended our local schools and are presently working in our…

I'm voting for Doug Cole and Mark Kelly for Rockport Select Board and I hope you will join me in doing the same. Both Doug Cole and Mark Kelly have been long time residents of Rockport and served the community for over 30 years. Doug Cole as a surgeon at Pen Bay Medical Center, and Mark Kelly as Rockport Police Chief. Both have had extensive experience dealing with our community and have deep experience in making hard decisions under stress in their respective careers.

I believe these…

After our long winter, I've been savoring the flowers sprouting all over town. Even more cheering, though, are "The Middle Matters" signs that have popped up with the flowers. I appreciate them because the spirit behind them is so different from the little town where I grew up. There every school bond issue set off a war between families who wanted the best possible public education for their kids and a small but noisy contingent of senior citizens who saw no reason to raise their taxes to…

My name is Tom Gray, and I am running for the Rockport Select Board. I would appreciate your vote on June 13. Many folks in the community will know me from my work as a teacher in the Five Town school district. I have lived in Rockport since 1999, have raised my children here, and care deeply about preserving our town’s unique character. Rockport offers the perfect blend of natural splendor, cultural richness, and neighborly connection. As a select board member, I will commit myself to…

To my friends and voters in Rockport: I gave a lot of thought to this before deciding to run for another term.  My decision rested on what I think of as an obligation to complete some of the tasks I have worked to set in motion over the last few years:

Surprisingly, my top motivation is to see the improvement of our infrastructure further along.  When I first was elected, it was the habit of the select board to dictate to the town manager and public works…

I came to know Tom Gray through my years in our local school system, and we have stayed in touch since I graduated in 2003. I have always looked up to him. Having been his student, travel companion and long-time friend, I believe him to be exceptionally well equipped to serve on Rockport's Select Board.

For the past five years I have served on Rockport's Budget Committee, and in that time I've watched the Select Board closely and learned a lot about the demanding role they have in our…

Like many of you I’ve been wrestling with this question. I will vote for building a new middle school and I thought I’d share with you how I came to my decision. I’m a 25-year resident with two children who began school at Rockport Elementary School and graduated from Camden Hills Regional High School more than 10 years ago, then unfortunately moved away (like many of our children).

You’ve likely read what’s been…

CAMDEN — Five of the six candidates running for a total of three open seats on Camden's Select Board attended the May 22 candidates forum, put on by the town and moderated by Deborah Dodge. Questions were posed to each candidate by Lynda Clancy of Penobscot Bay Pilot and Kim Lincoln of the Camden Herald, as well as from audience members.

The candidates vying for the two three-year terms, expiring June 2020, are:
• Robert Falciani
• Alison McKellar
• Christian…

Those of us who used to keep the political process at arms' length, are now fully aware of the need to keep informed, do our part and support the folks on the front lines who are committed to making the world, locally and globally, a just place. Which is why I'm thrilled that Anastasia Fischer, one of my dearest and most respected friends, has decided to run for a seat on the Rockport Select Board.

To serve in public office at any level requires commitment and a comprehensive…

I grew up here in Camden, splitting my time with my dad, who still lives on Spruce Street, and my mom in North Union, just on the edge of the Burketville town line, and after moving around a bit, I'm back. I live with my husband and two kids on Mechanic Street. When I went away to college in Florida, I often took pride in telling people that back in my hometown there were no fast food chains or drive thru windows. Instead of Home Depot, Wendy's and Seven Eleven, we have Rankins, French…

 Clint Collamore absolutely loves Waldoboro.  He’s been more dedicated to the town’s well-being than many, and Waldoboro has benefitted tremendously from his tenures on the Select Board.  Clint’s a natural leader.  He listens.  He respects everyone.  He believes in and insists on the primacy of process.  He’s fair.  Clint works hard to protect the Medomak, the core of Waldoboro’s economy.   He honors the past and looks to the future.  He focuses on touching Waldoboro’s diverse…

As Director of Facilities for MSAD #28, I’d like to share my thoughts and expertise on the proposed middle school bond and proposed school. 

The current middle school facility is a hodgepodge of several buildings and systems that have been put together over 100 years. It is riddled with systems and equipment that long ago reached the end of their useful life. We have been maintaining our facility as best we can, but it is simply worn out and outdated. We’ve spent the last 5 years…

ROCKPORT – As of Friday afternoon, April 28, three more Rockport citizens indicated their intent to run for the Select Board, filling the June 2017 ballot with a robust roster of candidates. According to Rockport Town Clerk Linda Greenlaw, and as of 1 p.m., there are now six candidates who have returned their nomination papers to the town office, all competing for two open seats. The deadline is 5 p.m. today.

There are two open three-year seats on the Select Board, currently occupied…

A handful of area towns are preparing for their annual June town meetings and elections, and as their warrants are being readied for the printer, the deadline to take out and return nomination papers looms close. For the towns of Appleton, Rockport and Camden, the deadline to return papers is Friday, April 28. In Lincolnville, Thomaston, Union, Vinalhaven and Warren, the deadline is May 1 and in Hope the deadline is May 2. In the city of Rockland, the deadline to file is May 1.

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