To be as fair as possible to potential Select Board candidates, members of the Raymond Select Board voted to postpone a decision on an election date to fill a vacancy created by the recall of former Select Board Chair Denis Morse.
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| To be fair to potential Select Board candidates, members of the Raymond Select Board voted to postpone a decision on an election date to fill the vacancy created by the recall of former Select Board Chair Denis Morse until the next board meeting. PHOTO BY ED PIERCE |
Select Board Vice Chair Kaela Gonzalez, who retained her own seat on the board during the recall election by a vote of 276 to 265, thanked Morse for his years of public service to the town.
To fill the Select Board vacancy created by the recall of Morse, a special election will be held in Raymond to elect a candidate for that position. Raymond Town Clerk Melanie Fernald said that by town ordinance, an election should be scheduled 30 to 45 days after the Select Board certifies the results of the recall election.
She proposed setting a date of Feb. 17 for the election and a motion was made by Select Board member Chris Hanson to shorten the usual time for candidates to submit petitions and gather more than 25 signatures for nomination petitions and to be placed on the ballot following signature verification by the town clerk.
The window allowing a shortened period for absentee voting would have to be shortened as well, Fernald said.
Raymond Interim Town Manager Glenn Michalowski advised the board that the town attorney has said that waiting until the Town Meeting in June to hold an election to fill the vacancy exceeds state regulations.
Members of the public told the board that an election in February was too soon and would hamper voting, citing extremely slow mail delivery, vacationing residents not having enough time to vote by absentee balloting and a lack of time for potential candidates to become known by Raymond residents.
Hanson said he agreed with concerns raised about scheduling a February election date by the public, and he then moved to table his motion until the next meeting of the board, whether that be at the Raymond Select Board’s next scheduled meeting on Feb. 10 or during a special meeting of the board.
Select Board member Derek Ray said he was in favor of obtaining further legal clarification about the time frame for scheduling the election and reviewing all possible options.
Gonzalez said she believes every candidate for office in Raymond deserves a fair shake and that the normal time frame for candidates to gather signatures and to submit a petition is 40 days. She said she thought this didn’t conflict with the recall election ordinance by waiting until the next board meeting to set an election date, even if it was set for a date in April.
Hanson, Ray, Gonzalez and Select Board member Samuel Gifford voted unanimously to wait until the next board meeting to schedule a date for the election.
Raymond Select Board members exercise the town's executive and administrative powers, overseeing town functions through the appointed town manager, hiring town officials, managing highways, setting town fees, administering public health regulations, dealing with tax abatement appeals, implementing policy and serving town residents' needs. Select Board members are elected on a non-partisan basis and serve three year-terms in office.
Town bylaws specify that the Select Board shall deal with administrative services solely through the town manager and shall not give orders to any subordinates of the manager, either publicly or privately. This does not prevent the Select Board members from appointing committees or commissions of its own members or of citizens to conduct investigations into the conduct of any official or department, or any matter relating to the welfare of the town.
The term for the Select Board position vacated by Morse’s recall runs through June 2027, so the time that the elected candidate would be required to serve would be about 15 months if the board sets the election date for April. <
