Knox County has new commissioner, registrar

ROCKLAND — In an election year marked by highly unusual activity in county politics, Knox County Republicans on Tuesday night turned out incumbent county Commissioner Gene Kenniston and newly appointed Registrar of Probate Wayne Gray.

Former Rockport Selectman Bob Duke beat incumbent Kenniston 647-534, taking his hometown 257-103 and Owls Head 116-107. Kenniston, a former city councilor and two-term county commissioner, won his hometown of Rockland 324-274, not by enough to offset Duke’s overall margin.

During the last weekend of the campaign, Kenniston charged Duke with “Chicago-style politics” including faked letters of support to local newspapers. Duke said he had no idea who wrote the letters.

In what turned out to be the battle of the signs, Elaine Hallett was elected registrar of probate 1,856 to 1,306 over Gray.

It seemed to many that Hallett, a veteran of the probate office for 19 years, had the edge because of a record proliferation of signs across the county. If the election depended on lawn signs, she was a prohibitive favorite.

Gray, the current SAD 5 chairman and a former legislator, was appointed to the registrar’s office in January by Gov. Angus King. He countered the blizzard of Hallett signs with a multipage mailing to every Republican in the county, followed by color newspaper inserts over the weekend.

Once voters turned out their county commissioner and registrar of deeds, they looked kindly on a $9.6 million school budget and $1 million capital project for Rockland.

Three-town voting on the $9.6 million SAD 5 budget followed a well-established pattern. The total line was passed by Rockland, Owls Head and South Thomaston by a combined 675-585. But the administration and additional local lines failed, as they have for the past five years. The administration line, which contained an increase of $40,000 to $1 million, was rejected 751-567. The additional local funds line, which contained a $250,000 increase to $2 million, was rejected by a combined 716-531.

SAD 5 Superintendent Donald Kanicki said a revote on the two rejected lines will be scheduled at the school board meeting Thursday night. It is anticipated the revote will be held at a public meeting, as it has been for the past five years.

Since the school budget contained a 7.5 percent gross increase, which raised local taxes by more than 11 percent because of a decrease in state funding, some opposition was expected. But most of the gross increase was because of a $5 million middle school financed totally with local money, an item already approved at the polls, officials explained.

If the budget eventually is passed as requested, the tax increases would be $125,000 to Owls Head, $448,000 to Rockland and $90,000 to South Thomaston.

Generous voters passed a $1 million referendum on more money for the middle school 792-270.

The city referendum, which asked voters for another $1 million, was given a 50-50 chance since at least one council member, James Raye, campaigned against it. But voters passed the item 561-493.

Raye questioned the wisdom of taking out a $1 million loan and paying for items such as trucks over a 10-year period. The items should have been included in the city budget to give a truer picture of the tax load, Raye said.

Voters disagreed.