ARROWSIC

Again using their town meeting to address a national issue, Arrowsic voters aim to amend the U.S. Constitution.

The town, which in 2007 became the first in the state to pass a resolution calling for an end of the war in Iraq, on Wednesday joined cities like Portland and Bangor in advocating for a reversal to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission.

Critics say the nation’s highest court — which by a 5- 4 vote in 2010 ruled that corporations are entitled to the same free speech rights as individuals and, essentially, that money and speech are equivalent — opened the floodgates for undisclosed and unlimited corporate contributions to political candidates through entities called political action committees.

Janet Kehl, who launched the petition to place the article on the warrant for Wednesday’s Arrowsic town meeting, echoed those sentiments to voters Wednesday, before the article passed with just one vote in opposition.

“I feel that this is a bipartisan issue that should involve every voter in America,” Kehl said. “I don’t have millions — if I did, I would flood the airwaves with support for campaign finance reform — but I do have a voice.”

After deliberating the wording of the resolution, speakers expressed support for the sentiment of the article, which rejects the Citizens United decision and “move(s) to amend our Constitution to firmly establish that money is not speech, and that human beings, not corporations, are persons entitled to constitutional rights.”

In other business, the town elected William Savedoff to the Board of Selectmen to replace Larry Wilson, who decided not to run for re-election this year.

Jennifer Hall was re-elected to the position of town clerk, Mary McDonald was re-elected as treasurer and Elizabeth Rollins was re-elected as tax collector.

Overall, voters made few changes to the warrant suggested by the Board of Selectmen, shaving a combined $1,500 from requests for the recycling and solid waste disposal budgets.

The reductions bring the town’s total amount to be raised this year to $785,564, which is $35,020 above last year. With the use of surplus funds to offset a steep increase to the town’s contribution to Regional School Unit 1, Wilson said today that the town’s property tax rate would stay near last year’s level of $12 per $1,000 of valuation.