Towns choose municipal, school leaders

4 weeks ago

Along with state and national elections, some central Aroostook towns chose local leaders on Election Day.

Fort Fairfield residents elected two town councilors and two members of the SAD 20 school board.

A total of 1,696 Fort Fairfield voters cast ballots on Election Day. That’s more than 75 percent of the town’s 2,047 registered voters, as listed by the Maine Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions.

Michael Greenlaw and Brianne Bubar won two three-year terms on the Fort Fairfield Town Council. Greenlaw had 1,061 votes and Bubar had 986. Candidate Billie Jo Sharpe earned 665 votes.

They will replace outgoing councilors Kevin Pelletier and James Ouellette.

Erica Cummings, with 1,260 votes, and Holly Gorneault, with 1,225, were elected to two available three-year terms on the school board. Both ran unopposed.  

Along with Presque Isle, the towns of Castle Hill, Chapman, Mapleton and Westfield form SAD 1, and residents in those communities faced school board decisions and a grant referendum. 

Voters overwhelmingly approved the acceptance of a $708,696 grant to allow the Presque Isle Regional Technology Center to buy equipment for its agricultural program and the SAD 1 School Farm.  

The vote in Presque Isle was 2,896 to 788 in favor. Other towns voted for the measure as follows: Castle Hill, 174-59; Chapman, 199-65; and Mapleton, 883-292. Westfield votes are not reported.

The only contested school board race was that of Janet Willette vs. incumbent Terry Sandusky. Willette earned the seat with 474 votes; Sandusky received 236.

Voter turnout was heavy in Aroostook County and statewide. Polling stations across The County reported long, but orderly lines.