January 1982
In hopes of getting a recall question on the March 9 ballot, Gorham petitioners have handed in 779 valid signatures to Town Clerk Brenda Caldwell, but problems continue to plague the referendum drive. The petition seeks to amend the town charter to give voters the right to recall council and school committee members before their three-year terms expire.
Two summer tires apiece from the county cars of Sheriff Martin Joyce and Chief Deputy Richard Elliott and a set of jumper cables were discovered missing Monday at the Cumberland County Jail garage.
Westbrook Police Chief Leo R. Darling will become eligible for retirement April 23, but hasn’t made a decision whether to retire. “About the time they get thinking ‘He might do it,’ I let them know that I guess I’ll stay here and make it tough for them,” Darling said. “But I really haven’t made up my mind yet.”
On the recommendation of the Save Robie Committee, the Gorham Town Council voted 6-1 to brick up the 10 windows on the north side of Robie Gym in order to further insulate the building. Town Manager Donald Gerrish reported that insulation has been blown into the ceiling, and the building has an R-factor of 20. “The Save Robie Committee has raised close to $3,000 to pay for this,” said Gerrish.
A Gorham woman reported to police that her husband, who had been served divorce papers, took a gun and aimed it at his neck with the intention of committing suicide or harming someone else. The man left his residence with the gun and said that he planned to go to the North Gorham area to get the couple’s 2-year-old son, who was staying with a friend.
Ten Gorham High School musicians have been selected to attend the 1982 All-State Music Festival at the University of Maine, May 20-22. They are Sylvia Wing, violinist, orchestra; and John Sturtevant, Ron Bartlett, Kelly Quinn, Kim Cloudman, Robert Estes, Bruce Butterwirth, Shari Wiberg, Margo Burnham and Beth Lewsen, chorus.
In an effort to control the gypsy moth problem, the Gorham Town Council voted unanimously to send $1,152 to the Maine Forest Service for the spraying of land in North Gorham. The money is to be appropriated from the contingency fund.
January 1992
Town officials, discouraged by what they see as unfair rates charged for water by the Portland Water District, are beginning to question another perceived inequity – the lack of equal representation by the towns as compared to the cities on the district’s board of trustees. The American Journal researched the issue, and has documented strong evidence showing that not only does the inequity exist, it also may very well be unconstitutional. Joe Taylor, Portland Water District general manager, said the water district is willing to address the inequity in the board membership. But some municipal officials wonder why they haven’t done anything sooner and whether the city-dominated board of trustees truly wants a change. Taylor said that although the water district has received some complaints over the years from towns, it has never been a major issue and the water district has never studied it. However, he said, “If there’s a big concern, we’d be happy to sit down with the towns and work out a solution.”
New Westbrook Alderman Lionel Dumond is proposing a change in the city charter that would curb the power of Westbrook school superintendents to spend money. The change would bring the school department under a spending control system that applies to all other departments. It would require two “Yes” votes by the school committee for every expenditure of more than $1,000. In other departments, two “Yes” votes by the city council are required, under the charter.
Six activists from ACT UP were removed by police from the grounds of Westbrook High School after they distributed 300 condoms and leaflets to students getting on buses after school. High School Principal William Michaud called police as soon as he realized the ACT UP group had come on to the school grounds. This is the group’s latest round of “condom crusades” to area schools that began last fall.
The recession is taking its toll on the town of Gorham. The town is hundreds of thousands of dollars short of anticipated revenues, including: $60,000 cut from state revenue sharing; $197,000 cut from aid to education from the state; $200,000 short of anticipated local property tax revenues; and $269,000 short as a result of damage wrought by Hurricane Bob last summer.
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