By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

HARRISON — The towns of Harrison, Raymond and Casco hold their secret ballot elections on June 11, the second Tuesday of June. Only the Town of Naples holds its spring election earlier, on May 21 — the same date as the school vote.

The Town of Harrison will have a total of five ballot questions on Election Day (June 11).

The majority of the questions on the Harrison ballot falls under the category of ordinances. Being proposed are: Question No. 1, a Mass Gathering Ordinance; Question No. 2, a Subdivision Ordinance; and Question No. 4, a Building Code Ordinance. The latter, the Building Code Ordinance, will bring the town in line with state law, the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code (MUBEC). Question No. 3 asks residents if the Shoreland Zoning map should be amended.

Then, Harrison residents will get to decide how they’ll vote in the future.

Question No. 5 asks if residents would prefer to “vote on all warrant articles by secret ballot at the 2020 annual town meeting?”

There is an explanation for this ballot question: “With a declining number of people attending town meeting, by going to a secret ballot for all warrant articles, more people would have the opportunity to vote on the budget articles. Absentee voting would be available.”

In the Town of Harrison, there is one seat open on the board of selectmen. Incumbent Raymond J. Laplante is running.

The Harrison Planning Board has three openings and two candidates: Colleen Densmore and Brian Spaulding.  There is room for a write-in.

Incumbent Lisa Villa will be on the ballot for the one Zoning Board of Appeals position. That is a five-year term.

It seems like the same people have a tendency to become involved and to stay involved with municipal boards and committees. Familiar names will be on the ballot this spring.

In Naples, expect to see the names of incumbent Bob Caron II and challenger John Nostin on the ballot under the board of selectmen race. This year, there is only one seat open on the board of selectmen.

Four people are vying for the two seats on the Naples Planning Board. Incumbents James “Jimmy” Allen and John Thompson are running against challengers Caleb Humphrey and Bob Nyberg.

Both Humphrey and Nyberg have served on the Naples Budget Committee.

“No one took out papers for the Transfer Station Council or the budget committee,” according to Naples Town Clerk Judy Whynot.

There is one name for the SAD 61 representative for Naples and that is Janice Barter, current school board member.

The ballots are already printed in time for the May 21 election date, Whynot said.

In Casco, there are two seats available on the board of selectmen. The two incumbents Thomas Peaslee and Mary-Vienessa Fernandes turned in the nomination papers before the deadline. Fernandes has served as a selectman for about 10 years. Peaslee spent time on the planning board before his service as a selectman.

Also, in the Casco races, incumbent Stan Buchanan is running against Renee Orlowski for one seat on the School Administrative District (SAD) 61 Board of Directors.

Frank Kantor put in his name for the Casco Open Space Commission. Jerome Pullin will be the candidate for the Naples-Casco Transfer Station Council.

The Town of Casco will hold its election on June 11, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Casco Community Center.

“Everyone who is running is an incumbent,” said Raymond Town Clerk Sue Look.

The Town of Raymond will have two candidates for the two seats on the Board of Selectmen — incumbents Rolph Olsen and Teresa Sadak.

Regional School Unit (RSU) #14 also has one candidate, the incumbent Janis Cummings.

There are two seats on the Raymond Budget-Finance Committee and zero candidates, Look said.