Carmel election draws record voter turnout Incumbents backed; town meeting tonight

CARMEL – A record number of voters Saturday re-elected two incumbents to the Board of Selectmen. Jay Deane and Suzan Rudnicki soundly beat challengers Theodore Johns and Albert Colby Palmer in the annual election.

Rudnicki received 361 votes, the most of the four candidates, and Deane won his seat with 331 votes. Johns and Palmer, who were endorsed by the group Carmel Citizens for Responsible Government, received 243 and 234, respectively.

Lawrence “Pat” Webber was re-elected to the SAD 23 board of directors with 408 votes. Although he was unopposed officially, Peter Pelletier got 90 votes as a write-in candidate.

The selectmen and Webber will be sworn in tonight before the annual town meeting.

“I’m happy,” said Deane of his win. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to move forward and get on with the business of the town. I hope all 600 who voted today come Monday. It makes sense to get some stuff behind us and move on to more pertinent business.”

Johns called his loss “a little disappointing,” but did not rule out running again next year. Palmer left without comment as soon as the election results were announced.

While the incumbents and challengers disagreed over the town’s tax rate and the budget, it was competing proposals designed to end the 9-year-old court battle over gravel pits along the Horseback Road that divided the two factions.

Deane and Rudnicki support articles on the warrant that would allow the town to borrow up to $125,000 to lower the road and fill in the gravel pits owned by Donald Hewes, Barry Higgins and Earle McSorley. Proceeds from the sale of property seized by the town to offset court-imposed fines also would be used to defray the cost of rebuilding the road, according to Richmond.

Palmer and Johns supported an alternate plan that essentially would have settled the lawsuit with McSorley, but not the other pit owners. Last fall, petitioners sought to have such an article placed on the warrant, and later formed the group that backed Palmer and Johns.

Campaigning was intense compared to recent years. Bruce Fowle, a Bangor accountant and the town auditor, last week issued a letter stating he’d been misquoted about the town’s budget in a flyer distributed by the Carmel citizens group.

Deane called the election results Saturday a “validation” of the board’s vision for the growing community and its proposed solution for the Horseback Road. Yet, neither Deane, his fellow selectmen nor the town manager was willing to predict how the vote would go at town meeting.

Johns said that the results of the town meeting “could be something very different” from the election results.

“Monday should be interesting, to say the least,” observed Rudnicki.

Voter turnout Saturday was 35 percent – a record in a municipal election – with 603 of the town’s 1,700 registered voters casting ballots, according to Richmond. About 400 people turned out for the election last year, and 760 voted in the 1998 gubernatorial election, he said. An average turnout for a presidential election is about 800.

Voter check-in will begin at 7 p.m. today at the Carmel Elementary School. The town meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.