The result from the recount was 1,548 votes for Estes and 1,545 votes for Lewin.

Estes will face Democratic candidate Dawn Hill in November for the Senate seat being vacated by Peter Bowman (D).

South Berwick voter turn out:

Registered Voters:  5129
Total number of ballots cast:  1217
Turnout:  24%

Eliot
Lewin 560, Estes 119

Kittery
Estes 348, Lewin 242

Ogunquit
Estes 124, Lewin 40

South Berwick
Lewin 287, Estes 202.

York
Estes 753, Lewin 414

Total
Estes 1546, Lewin 1543

Unless a recount alters the outcome, Republican Michael Estes will face Democrat Dawn Wells, who ran uncontested in the primary, for the seat being vacated by Senator Peter Bowman (D).

Update June 10, 2010:  Newspaper coverage of likelihood of recount:

?Lewin seeks recount in Maine State Senate District 1 race after three-vote loss

Senate hopeful to request recount

South Berwick voters trended with statewide voting, although South Berwick voters were less likely to vote to repeal the Tax Reform Legislation and more likely to favor the bond issues than voters statewide.

Voters will be casting votes on the following:

Primary election:

Each of the three qualified parties in Maine (Democratic, Green Independent and Republican) will hold a primary election on June 10, 2008.  You must be enrolled in a party to participate in the Primary Election.

If you are currently unenrolled, you may enroll in a party at any time, including Election Day, by completing and filing an enrollment application with your municipal registrar.

If you want to change enrollment from one party to another, you must have filed an application by Friday, May 23, 2008 in order to vote in the new party for the June 10th Primary.

To see candidates running in the primary elections go to Maine.gov Candidate Listing Page

SAD #35 District Budget Referendum

South Berwick and Eliot voters will vote on the SAD 35 budget.   There will be two questions: 1)The Budget Validation Referendum (Single yes/no question on budget amount decided at the June 2 SAD 35 Budget Meeting )and 2) question on continuation of Budget Validation Referendum process.

For more information on the SAD 35 Budget go to the SAD 35 School Board Page.

Referendum Election

Referendum Elections are held to provide Maine’s citizens an opportunity to vote on People’s Veto Referenda, Direct Initiatives of Legislation (i.e. Citizen Initiatives), Bond Issues, other referenda proposed by the Legislature, and Constitutional Amendments.

Measures that will appear on the June 8, 2010 referendum ballot: (in the order they will appear on the ballot):

Question  1  (People’s Veto) (veto of PL 2009, c. 382 “An Act To Implement Tax Relief and Tax Reform”):
“Do you want to reject the new law that lowers Maine’s income tax and replaces that revenue by making changes to the sales tax?”

Question  2  (Bond Issue):
“Do you favor a $26,500,000 bond issue that will create jobs through investment in an off-shore wind energy demonstration site and related manufacturing to advance Maine’s energy independence from imported foreign oil, that will leverage $24,500,000 in federal and other funds and for energy improvements at campuses of the University of Maine System, Maine Community College System and Maine Maritime Academy in order to make facilities more efficient and less costly to operate?”

Question  3  (Bond Issue):
“Do you favor a $47,800,000 bond issue to create jobs in Maine through improvements to highways, railroads and marine facilities, including port and harbor structures, and specifying the allocation of $4,000,000 of the transportation bond approved by voters in November 2009 to be used for capital rail purposes?”

Question  4  (Bond Issue):
“Do you favor a $23,750,000 bond issue to provide capital investment to stimulate economic development and job creation by making investments under the Communities for Maine’s Future Program and in historic properties; providing funding for research and development investments awarded through a competitive process; providing funds for disbursements to qualifying small businesses; and providing grants for food processing for fishing, agricultural, dairy and lumbering businesses within the State and redevelopment projects at the Brunswick Naval Air Station that will make the State eligible for over $39,000,000 in federal and other matching funds?”

Question  5  (Bond Issue):
“Do you favor a $10,250,000 bond issue to improve water quality, support drinking water programs and the construction of wastewater treatment facilities and to assist farmers in the development of environmentally sound water sources that will leverage $33,250,000 in federal and other funds?”

The Secretary of State provides a Citizen’s Guide that includes:

• each of the five referendum questions;
• the legislation each question represents;
• a summary of the intent and content of the legislation;
• an explanation of the significance of a “yes” or “no” vote;
• an analysis of the debt service on the bond issues;
• an estimate of the fiscal impact of each referendum question on state revenues, appropriations and allocations;
• public comments filed in support of or in opposition to each ballot measure.

Link to South Berwick ballot with full text of Charter Amendment questions

I will be casting my vote for school board for Fred Wildnauer.  I do not have children in the school system but believe excellent schools increase the value of my property and contribute to the quality of life of the Town.  SAD35 represents the largest share of our property taxes so I am concerned about the budget and want to see a balance where educational quality is maintained and the budget is in line with the economy.  

Fred Wildnauer values education and has a commitment to making sure SAD35 is the best it can be.  Having raised two children who went through SAD35 schools and who went on to competitive colleges, Fred understands the school system from a parent’s perspective.

Fred is concerned about the growing burden that the schools place on property taxes.  I have had the opportunity to talk with Fred about how he would approach addressing the school budget.  I appreciate that he does not have preconceived notions about what needs to happen but would approach his duties on the school board by learning and asking questions.  He is willing to be open to all avenues of cost savings and revenue and sees his role on the Board as one of asking questions and generating discussion.

I know that some in the community feel that the School Board has not been responsive to citizens’ concerns about the budget and some think the Board is unwilling to consider cost cutting measures.  I’m not sure that is true, but I would like to see more dialogue between the School Board and citizens about the budget.  To make that happen I would like someone like Fred Wildnaur on the Board; someone who will not be afraid to ask questions about all aspects of the budget and who is willing to participate in a constructive dialogue about how to control the budget while maintaining quality of education.

I appreciate having a local small business owner on the School Board.  Those who run small businesses are intimately involved in day to day decisions about where to save money and where to invest.  A successful business owner also has to learn how to maintain operations during lean times.  As the owner of a woodworking business, Fred Wildnaur would bring that perspective to the School Board.

I appreciate that Fred has researched the upcoming Qualified School Construction Bond that is on the ballot and has taken a stance to support it.  Passage of the bond will allow MSAD35 to improve air quality in our older schools and bring them up to code.  The bond offers a unique financing opportunity that will allow the work to be done in a cost effective manner that will not add a burden to taxpayers. (See below for additional information provided by Fred Wildnaur regarding the bond issue.)

That’s why I will be voting for Fred Wildnauer for School Board on November 3.

–Molly Colman

This is additional information that Fred Wildnauer provided regarding the Qualified School Constructin Bond:

The financing for this is once in a lifetime deal. Here is a link to the supporting document that the superintendent’s office put out for the amazingly poor attended information meeting on Monday.

Information from the Superintendent’s office about the Bond: http://www.msad35.net/sites/default/files/QSCB%20INFO_0.pdf

The money for these projects is in the form of normal loans but with the backing of the Federal Government Stimulus package. The way the fed backs this up is by offering tax breaks to the banks that loan out the money. The tax break right now is around 6%. The thinking of the business manager and people on the state level is that the banks will not charge any interest to the borrower (SAD 35) because the tax break is higher than any interest the market would let them charge. They don’t have to not charge interest, but they most likely will not charge interest (a bond is put out to bid). So that’s a good deal by itself, but it gets better! This tax incentive also would make the banks want to keep this as an outstanding note on their books for the life of the loan (15years). Therefore, MSAD will make its payments to the bank as though it was a normal bond but the Bank will put these payments in an interesting bearing account where it will accrue interest over the 15 years. Once the principal and interest in that interest bearing account reaches the loan amount, the note will be paid off saving SAD35 the amount of interest accrued. The business manager figures that even at a conservative rate of 1.5%, this will amount to $330,000 over the 15 years. So, now we have borrowed $3.2 million and bought $3.2 million worth of needed work and will have paid $2.9 million for it. A sweet deal, but there is more. We will do all the work in a year or less so figuring a conservative inflation rate of 2.8% we will save an additional $666,873.  So now the work cost $2.2 million roughly. There’s more. The economy is bad right now so construction prices are at a low. This number can’t be measured yet, but the probability of getting either more work or the work for even less seems strong.

It is okay to be incredibly enthusiastic about this financing package. Even if we don’t get the absolute lowest price on the work (we are contracting this work to a company the school has worked with in the past as a design/build) we can absolutely afford it. My feeling is we can’t afford not to do this. If I am elected, I will take Ralph Stevens place on the facilities committee and I promise I will advocate strongly that the contractor: 1. Uses local help whenever possible. 2. Uses state of the art equipment to squeeze every drop of energy and operating savings out possible and 3. Holds to the prices he has given in the scope of work outlined in the document on the MSAD web site.

The work we are paying for is to maintain our aging buildings (no work on the high school). This will replace aging equipment or put in ventilation equipment where there is none now. This is designed to improve the air quality in our old buildings and to therefore improve the health of our students by bringing everything up to current code.

The superintendent and the school board are convinced that the $200K payment on the bond can come out of the $300K or so that we already put aside every year as a contingency fund for building maintenance. There are plenty of inflationary pressures on the budget but this bond will not be one of them.

–Fred Wildnauer

When I cast my vote for Jean Demetracopoulos I will have no reservations that I am casting a vote for someone who contributes to an effective Town Council.   Here’s why.

Jean Demetracopoulos is running for her second term.  For more than a year she has been the Chair of the Council.  She took over the Chair position in the midst of much turmoil and division surrounding the departure of our former Town Manager.  In my opinion, the sniping and divisiveness that characterized the Town Council prior to Jean assuming leadership had undermined the Council’s ability to govern effectively.  Jean has been a leader in setting a civil tone for the Town Council even when she was the target of anger and verbal abuse from angry townspeople.  A lesser person would have crumbled or resorted to counterattacks.  She has done neither.  Now the Town Council spends their time deliberating over issues rather than sniping.  I thank Jean and all of the current Council members for that.

Under Jean’s leadership the Council has made more effort to inform citizens about what is going on.  Citizens asked that the supporting documents for the agenda items at each meeting be posted on the Town website. They are now posted prior to each Council meeting, allowing citizens to be informed participants in the meetings.

Jean is fiscally conservative and is very cautious about expenditures.  She does her homework and does not move forward unless she is satisfied that she fully understands the implications of her votes.  She listens to citizens and other Town Councilors and considers their viewpoints in her decisions.

Sometimes Jean is more conservative that I wish and sometimes, in my opinion, fiscally cautious to a fault.  However she balances that with a vision of South Berwick that includes maintaining our quality of life. I appreciate that she has been a staunch advocate of rebuilding our undesignated fund that had been drained in former years.  I appreciate that she understands the need to build up capital reserves so we can be good stewards of our town by putting money away to maintain and replace our infrastructure when necessary.

Jean is an advocate of land conservation and protecting our natural resources.  She is also an advocate of economic development.  I appreciate that she does not see conservation and economic development as mutually exclusive and holds a vision of South Berwick where we can find a sensible balance.

I don’t know Jean personally so when I started being a “regular” at Town Council meetings I didn’t know what to expect.  Over the last two years that I have observed her, first as a council member and then as chair, I have been impressed by her integrity above all her other qualities.  She votes for what she believes is best for the town.  She stands up for what she believes but will compromise to find middle ground.  Her votes are not guided by ideology, grudges, or alliances.  I don’t always agree with how Jean votes, but I always feel that she is fulfilling her duty as a Town Councilor with integrity and honor.

Jean Demetracopoulos supports the new library.  She does not want to see the total cost of building the new library to be born by the taxpayers so is supportive of the efforts of the Friends of the Library to raise donations and private and public grants.  The Council, under Jean’s leadership, has kept the Library process moving along since the purchase of the Young Street property in January 2008, resulting in the completion of engineering and architectural studies and the current design development phase of the project.

That’s why I will cast my vote for Jean Demetracopoulos for Town Council on Tuesday, November 3.

– Molly Colman

Read all the the election 2009 articles on the236diner.com