6 candidates vie for 2 seats on Mount Desert Board of Selectmen

MOUNT DESERT – Six candidates will compete for two seats on the Board of Selectmen when voters go to the polls on March 1.

There is no competition for the two school board openings, with Laura Hendricks seeking another three-year term and John March Jr. unopposed for the seat vacated by Michael Musetti.

Musetti, meanwhile, is unopposed for a three-year term on the board of trustees of Mount Desert Island Regional High School.

All open seats this year carry three-year terms.

The municipal polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Somesville Fire Station. The annual town meeting will be held March 2 at the Higgins-Demas Auditorium at MDI high school.

Voters will choose from among six candidates for selectman. Incumbent Rick Savage, currently board chairman, will compete against Kathleen Branch, Robert Dodge, Edith Dunham Crowley, Jason Lovejoy and Jeffery Smith for the two open seats, according to town officials.

Lovejoy is a former town police officer who quit his job abruptly last fall after he was passed over for promotion to chief of police.

Selectman Jerry Suminsby, who is finishing a three-year term, is not seeking re-election.

“My intention is to put my energy into [updating] the comprehensive plan and ordinance review plan,” he said Wednesday.

The comprehensive plan lays out the town’s vision for the future and must be followed by town boards as they review and decide zoning and myriad other land use issues.

Few residents have shown an interest in undertaking the job.

“It requires a long-term large commitment, and I just don’t think I could maintain both at the same time,” Suminsby said.