HOULTON, Maine — Change is underway for the Houlton Town Council and RSU 29 school board following last Tuesday’s elections.
A total of 2,096 votes were cast in Houlton this year. There are about 3,800 registered voters in Houlton, which means 55 percent of the people eligible to vote did so.
Three of the seven members of the Houlton Town Council will be new councilors as Jane Torres, Brent Dickison and Matt Carr were successful in their bids to join the board. Torres topped all vote-getters with 1,511 votes. Dickison received 1,356 votes and Carr garnered 1,209.
Paul Cleary, a 12-year veteran of the Council and the chairman of the group for the past several years, was unsuccessful in his re-election bid. Cleary received 809 votes. Brian Donnelly, who died suddenly on Oct. 28, received 435 votes.
On Nov. 5, the council held a special organizational meeting to elect a new chairman. Wade Hanson, Carr and Daniel Peabody were each nominated to be the next chairman. According to Town Clerk, Cathy O’Leary, the group voted on Hanson’s nomination first, since he was the first to be nominated, with Peabody, John White Jr., Phil Cloney and Hanson voting in favor and Torres, Dickison and Carr opposed. With four votes, Hanson was named the new chairman.
Councilors receive a $500 stipend, while the chairman earns $600. The chairman only votes to break ties during regular council business.
Three new faces will also be joining the RSU 29 school board. Four candidates were seeking three available seats on the board. Susan McLaughlin was the top vote-getter with 1,566 votes. Susan Tortello (1,363 votes) and Darryl Scott White (1,172) were also voted to the board. Incumbent Rosa McNally received 1,042 votes.
For the town’s Board of Budget Review, Gerard Berthelete received 1,626 votes, while Lori Weston (48 votes) and Kent Good (34 votes) were successful write-in candidates. All three were elected to three-year terms on the board. McNally received 1,651 votes and was elected to a two-year term on the board.
According to O’Leary, about 50 other individuals received multiple votes as write-ins. She is in the process of contacting those individuals to see if any of them are interested in the other two-year seat on the board.
For the Houlton Cary Library Board of Trustees, Forrest Barnes (1,062 votes) edged Charlotte D. MacArthur (798 votes).
Richard L. Goodwin (1,754 votes) and Galen N. Hogan (1,719 votes) were both successful in their bids to get elected to the Houlton Water Company Board of Directors.
The local referendum to change language in the town charter, which changes the review of the town’s financial status from a six-month period to an eight-month time frame, passed 1,572 to 345.
