Freeport residents who step into the ballot box at Freeport High School on Nov. 3 will see no District 4 Town Council candidates on their ballots, marking the first time in decades a council seat has gone uncontested.
There’s plenty of interest, however, for positions on the Freeport Sewer District Trustees, a quasi-municipal board.
Town Clerk Christine Wolfe said last Thursday that she does not have exact years, but was told by former Town Manager Dale Olmstead that not since the 1970s or 1980s has a Freeport council seat gone uncontested. Incumbent Andy Wellen, whose District 4 term is expiring, is not seeking re-election.
Town Manager Peter Joseph didn’t know how to interpret the lack of a District 4 candidate.
“You really don’t know that that means,” Joseph said. “As a negative, it could mean a lack of interest in the Town Council. As a positive, it could point to a lack of issues.”
It is not known yet if any write-in campaigns will be launched.
There is competition for an at-large council position, however. Doreen Mae Christ, who works in the inspections/codes enforcement office in Portland and is a recorder for the town of Monmouth, is challenging Chairwoman Melanie Sachs.
There are four candidates for three seats – all three-year terms – on the Freeport Sewer District board of trustees. Michael Ashby, Andrew Sachs, Sara Randall and James Harriman are the candidates to replace outgoing trustees Clinton Goodenow Jr., Leland Arris III and Darrel Fournier.
Goodenow might still be around for trustees meetings, however. He and Wilson E. Woodbury Jr. are vying for the one-year vacancy left by the resignation of Garrett Simmons.
There are three candidates for two seats, both for three years, on the Regional School Unit 5 Board of Directors. Chairman Nelson Larkins and fellow incumbent John Morang are running, as is newcomer Jeremy Clough. Karin VanNorstrand decided not to seek another term.
Louise Brogan, a writing specialist at Bates College, is the only candidate for a one-year term, currently filled by Larkins. Larkins agreed to replace Peter Murray, who chaired the Freeport Withdrawal Committee and resigned after residents voted against withdrawal last year.
Nomination papers were returned to Wolfe’s office last Wednesday.
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