Smith, Chasse take PI City Council seats

11 years ago

Smith, Chasse take PI City Council seats

By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer

    PRESQUE ISLE — Incumbents Randy Smith and Michael Chasse retained their seats on City Council, following the final tally of the results of the Nov. 5 election.

    Smith was running for re-election for a four-year term, receiving 582 votes to defeat Steven Sutter, who obtained409 votes.
    Chasse was vying for the remaining two years of the seat formerly held by Micah Desmond. Chasse received 723 votes, with 330 votes going to challenger Jacqueline Goodine.
    Several SAD 1 School Board members were also elected for three-year terms. They included: Section 6 —Carol Bell, with 60 votes; Section 8 — Paul Barrett, with 162 votes; Section 11 — Curtis Culberson, with 12 votes; Section 12 — Lucy Richard, with 77 votes; Section 16 — Julie Freeman, with 39 votes; and Section 317 — Paul Saija, with 31 votes.
    Voters also approved two questions posed at the local level.
    The first asked voters if they favored merging the Presque Isle Water District and the Presque Isle Sewer District to create the Presque Isle Utilities District, with 964 voting ‘yes,’ to 113 who were opposed.
    The second question asked voters to approve amending the City Charter to reduce the number of public hearings City Council must hold to adopt an ordinance from two to one. After the single hearing, the Council may adopt the ordinance with or without amendment or reject it, but if it is substantially amended, the Council may not adopt it until the ordinance or its amended sections have been subjected to all the procedures required in the case of a newly-introduced ordinance. A total of 642 voted in favor of the change, with 391 opposed.
    On the state level, four of the five bond issues met voter approval in Presque Isle:
• Question 1 dealt with $14 million for improvements to Maine Army National Guard readiness centers and support facilities, which narrowly gained approval in the Star City by a vote of 572 to 524;
• Question 2 sought approval for $15.5 million for improvements to existing laboratory and classroom facilities of the University of Maine System statewide, winning locally by a margin of 649 to 454;
• Question 3 was the transportation/infrastructure request for $100 million for improvements to facilities and equipment, to be used to match an estimated $154 million in federal and other funds, with voters supporting by nearly a two-to-one margin of 758 to 339;
• Question 4 was the only bond issue Presque Isle residents opposed, voting 660 to 431 against the $4.5 million for a proposed building project at Maine Maritime Academy; and
• Question 5 also passed in Presque Isle by nearly a two-to-one margin, with 712 in favor and 385 opposed to the $15.5 million for upgrades to seven campuses of the Maine Community College System.