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CARIBOU – The 6,450 residents eligible to vote in next Tuesday’s election could be spending a long time in the voting booth as they decide on six statewide referendum questions, the election of six city officials, and 18 local referendum questions.
Voting in Caribou is done at the General Carter Memorial Armory on Bennett Drive. Voting hours are between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Two incumbents seeking re-election to three-year terms on the City Council face opposition from one newcomer.
Joseph Bouchard, first elected in 1995, is seeking his third term on the City Council. Sandra J. Huck was appointed to the City Council in April 2000, and is seeking her first full three-year term. The newcomer in the election is Miles R. Williams.
Philip J. McDonough II and Reginald R. Reed are facing off for a two-year term on the City Council. Reed was appointed earlier this year to replace Philip Bennett.
The Caribou board of education has two seats open for three-year terms. The ballot has only one name. John Kent Forbes is unopposed for one of the seats. The second seat will be filled by write-in votes.
David H. Wakem is unopposed for a three-year term on the Jefferson Cary Memorial Hospital fund board. He has served four terms on the board.
“It will take a long time for voters to read through all the questions and vote,” City Clerk Judy Corrow said Friday. “It will take a long time to count the votes at the end of the election as well.”
While the charter amendments that make up the local referendum questions are many, and some are long, City Manager Stephen Buck said they are mostly housekeeping changes with no real controversy involved. The original list of proposals included six other revisions.
“I believe they will all pass,” he said Friday. “We had public hearings in August, and the most controversial proposals were eliminated.”
Buck said the proposals are mostly to remove areas of conflict within the charter and to change some areas of the charter which were in conflict with state laws.
The city attorney recommended the changes after a lengthy review of the charter, Buck said.
What makes the list so long is that the complete section to be revised must be included on the ballot, even if only one word is to be changed.
“Many of the changes will make the charter more reader-friendly,” Buck said. “The charter will be very simple to understand.”
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