People
(from the May 2007 Maine Townsman)

Among those elected to office in recent municipal balloting were: Daniel Pelletier, who defeated incumbent Allagash First Selectman Joel Jackson, 118-58, and fellow newcomer Joseph Hafford, who unseated incumbent Selectman Frank McBreairty by 14 votes, 94-80, while planning board member Clayton McBreairty ran unopposed for third selectman; Darlene Dumond and Paul Berube, who defeated Fort Kent Town Council Chairwoman Laurel Daigle, to claim the two open seats on the board, with Dumond collecting 80 votes to Berube’s 68 and Daigle’s 61; and Bill Jones, who was elected from the Sweden town meeting floor to replace outgoing Selectman Lucky Clark.

Also, former Warren Selectman Arnold Hill will return to the board to replace Chairman Bill Lufkin, who did not seek re-election, after defeating challenger Gordon Jameson by a vote of 96-67. Ron Deegan, who defeated Percy McInnis, 42-37, for a seat on the Woodstock Board of Selectmen, replaces Judy Bennett, who did not run for another term.

In Jonesport, town meeting voters cast three ballots before electing William “Bimbo” Look to replace Catherine Perry on the board of selectmen. Although Look took the most votes on each ballot, it required three tries to get a majority.

Topsham Town Manager Gary Brown has accepted the assistant manager’s job in nearby Brunswick, prevailing in a field of 66 candidates to replace Patricia Harrington. Brown’s last day in Topsham was May 11. Selectmen hope to have a new manager by August.

Poland Town Manager Richard Chick announced in April he will not seek reappointment this year after serving the town since 1974. Chick, who has been ill for several months, has been a long-time member of the Maine Town & City Management Association and also served many years on the MMA Legislative Policy Committee.

Sanford selectmen have hired Thomas Connolly, recently retired as commander of the Prince George’s County, Maryland, police department, as the town’s new police chief. Connolly, 53, was one of more than three dozen candidates and one of seven interviewed for the job. He will replace Thomas Jones, who planned to retire in late May.

In Van Buren, Town Manager Larry Cote has been placed on paid, administrative leave.

Bath Town Manager William Giroux will establish residency in the coastal city by late May after some councilors expressed concerns that he had not kept a promise to move to Bath from nearby Phippsburg. The city charter requires the manager to live in the city. Giroux has had difficulty selling his home since being named Bath manager in September 2005, he said.

Belfast city councilors have hired Joseph Slocum to succeed City Manager Terry St. Peter, who will retire in June. Slocum, 53, presently works with some 400 Maine municipalities as supervisor of property and casualty claims for the Maine Municipal Association’s Risk Management Services division. Slocum, a former New York attorney, managed Castine from 1995 to 2003, when he joined the MMA staff.

Rockland patrolman Matthew Lindahl was cited for bravery for helping to save lives when a father and son were stabbed by a male assailant inside their home in February. Lindahl physically interrupted the knife attack on the father, whose son had already been stabbed, and then disarmed and arrested the attacker.

Richmond Code Enforcement Officer Douglas Marble has resigned to begin CEO duties in Embden and Phillips. Marble will continue as CEO and plumbing inspector for the towns of Bowdoinham and Kingfield.

Longtime Penobscot Fire Chief Bim Snow, 66, retired in late April after serving the department for 23 years as chief and more than 30 years all told. Snow said he was proud of the changes at the department through the years, which included building a new fire station in 2002.

Waldoboro Police Sergeant. Jamie Wilson has been named acting police chief while selectmen look for a permanent replacement for Leroy Jones.

Municipal officials who died recently include: Joseph Cyr, 73, former Van Buren police officer and wastewater treatment plant operator, in Caribou on March 23; Louis A. “Pee Wee” Cyr, 86, former Madawaska town manager, in Madawaska on April 8; Abigail Holman, 45, Fayette selectman and state representative, in a skiing accident at Sugarloaf on April 7; Clark Neily, 88, former longtime Gorham economic development director who also served two stints as acting city manager, at his home in Gorham on April 7; Michael Sockalexis, 60, longtime Penobscot Nation leader and former tribal representative to the Maine Legisalture, at Bangor on April 22; and Barry Timson, 62, a long-time mayor of Hallowell, on April 15.