Residents in Clifton have said a Select Board candidate is not living in his Clifton home enough to run for the seat and should be removed from the ballot.
Steve Armenia owns houses in both Clifton and Great Pond, a town of roughly 60 residents in Hancock County, but is spending the majority of his time in Great Pond, his neighbor Stephanie Hawkins said. Armenia is one of two candidates running for a one-year seat on the Clifton Select Board.
Armenia previously ran for a seat on the Clifton Select Board in 2024, placing third with 99 votes, but his decision to run again in 2026 has brought backlash from his neighbors who say he doesn’t live at his Clifton home and should be removed from the ballot.
“Just because your car is here, you’re registered to vote here or because your mail comes to this address, that does not make you a resident, per the state of Maine,” Hawkins said.
Armenia declined to be interviewed and wouldn’t confirm where he primarily lives.
Six candidates are vying for three open seats on the board. Armenia is running against Cynthia Grant for a one-year seat that has been vacant since the fall. Whoever is elected to the position will represent residents on a board dealing with an increasing budget that would deliver a more than a 6% hike in taxes this year, if it’s passed as proposed.
Hawkins and her husband, John, have lived on Bruckoff Road in Clifton for more than eight years, they said. Their house sits just a few lots away from Armenia’s listed permanent residence in Clifton, but they’ve seen him less and less since he bought another home in 2021, they said.
Armenia moved to his home in Great Pond in 2025, they said. He has even invited the couple to his home in Great Pond, John Hawkins said.
Armenia has been registered to vote in Clifton since October of 2020, after he moved from Florida, according to his voter registration card. He also pays excise tax and property taxes in Clifton. Armenia received a homestead exemption on his Clifton home in 2025, according to Clifton’s tax commitment records, meaning under state law that was his permanent residence for the year.
By being a registered voter and resident of Clifton, Armenia is legally allowed to run for a Select Board seat.
Nevertheless, Stephanie and John Hawkins, along with another resident, Jeffrey Roberts, say that he shouldn’t be on the ballot.
Armenia bought his home in Great Pond in 2021, one year after he bought his home in Clifton, according to documents from the Penobscot County and Hancock County Registry of Deeds.
He financed the home in Great Pond with a loan with a Veterans Affairs rider, according to documents from the Hancock Registry of Deeds.
A home loan from the Department of Veterans Affairs typically requires a person to move to the property within 60 days of the loan’s approval and live there permanently for 12 months, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs website.
Armenia did not change his voter registration between 2020 and 2025, according to his voter registration in Clifton.
At a Clifton Select Board meeting on Feb. 11, Select Board Chair Dennis Harvey confirmed Armenia’s residency in Clifton when Roberts said Armenia wasn’t able to run for the Select Board position.
“He has a home in this community. He collects his mail in this community. He’s registered to vote in this community. He pays his excise tax in this community. He is a resident,” Harvey said.
When pushed by Roberts about Armenia not being a resident, Harvey said he “talked to Steve tonight, and he said he was a resident.”
Harvey did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.