Due to a clerical error, Gouldsboro officials will not hold a vote Tuesday on whether to disband the local police department.
Sherri Cox, Gouldsboro’s town manager, said Monday that the warrant that was publicly posted for the vote was not signed by selectmen, which is a legal requirement for holding a municipal election. She said the selectmen planned to meet the evening of Monday, June 10, to set a new date for the vote.
The delay also affects local elections for selectmen and planning board, Cox said.
She said Gouldsboro residents still will be able vote Tuesday on whether to approve a proposed $45 million project to build a new school for students in grades 6 through 12 in Sullivan. The new school would serve all students in those grades in Regional School Unit 24, which consists of Gouldsboro and nine other area towns. Polls for that vote, and on the RSU’s annual budget, will be open at the community center on Pond Road in Gouldsboro, also known as Route 195, from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m., Tuesday.
In local elections, six people are running for three available seats on the Board of Selectmen, according to Cox. Three people are running for two available three-year terms and three people are running for a one-year term. Two positions are now vacant, having been occupied by Bill Thayer, who died in April, and by Glenn Grant, who resigned when he moved out of town.
The vote on whether to disband the police department is a citizen’s initiative promoted by some residents who say that the cost of running a municipal police department is too expensive. If voters decide to dissolve the police department, the town instead would contract with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office to provide law enforcement coverage on a regular basis.
