CUMBERLAND
Incumbents retained, one added to SAD 51 board

Cumberland voters re-elected John Simpson and Peter Wilson in a three-way race for two three-year terms on the board of directors of School Administrative District 51.

Additional Photos

Left to right, ward clerk Anne Strout and ward workers Barbara Jackson, Ruth Boissonnault and Alfred Martel sit at their posts and wait for voters at the J. Richard Martin Community Center in Biddeford on Tuesday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Cumberland and North Yarmouth voters also approved a 4.3 percent spending increase for School Administrative District 51 for the coming year.

Vickie Bell won a one-year term on the board with 804 votes, over Timothy Ferris who received 306 votes.

Incumbents Wilson and Simpson got 735 and 541 respectively, and their challenger had 464 votes.

The nine-member board includes residents of Cumberland and North Yarmouth and oversees Mabel Wilson School, North Yarmouth Memorial School, Greely Middle School and Greely High School.

Simpson, 53, is a lawyer who sees education as the key to success and happiness.

Wilson, 67, is a retired tax expert who would like to address some of the budgeting, spending and policy concerns he has developed during the last year.

Bell, 48, is a lawyer turned stay-at-home mom who formerly worked at Verrill Dana in Portland and at Hannaford Bros.

Both Simpson and Wilson have been on the board for almost a year. The Town Council appointed them last July after two board members resigned.

YARMOUTH
Two incumbents re-elected, newcomer wins third seat on town council

One-term incumbents Randall Bates and Andrew Kittredge, along with political newcomer Tamson Bickford Hamrock, were elected to the Yarmouth Town Council on Tuesday in a four-way race for three seats.

Robert Waeldner, another political newcomer, came in last, with 752 votes.

Kittredge earned the most votes, with 1,061, followed by Bickford Hamrock with 1,050, then Bates with 925.

Bates, 46, is a lawyer who hopes the council continues moving in the same direction, with relatively stable property taxes, well-managed municipal improvements and a quality school system.

Hamrock, 56, is an arts and development entrepreneur who is following in the footsteps of her father, the late Erv Bickford, who served on the council for decades. She said she plans to promote multi-use development that would provide affordable housing for elders and young people and attract new business in keeping with the town’s character.

Kittredge, 35, is a construction manager who believes he provides a younger, homegrown perspective on the council. He said he will continue to work on economic development issues in an effort to make Yarmouth more business-friendly.

Waeldner, 49, is a lawyer who has been active in civic affairs since moving to the town 16 years ago.

FALMOUTH
Open-space advocate, fiscal conservative win council seats

One-term incumbent Chris Orestis lost a four-candidate race for two seats on the Town Council Tuesday.

Town voters elected open-space advocate Caleb Hemphill and fiscal conservative Charles McBrady with 1,325 votes and 1,272 votes, respectively.

Orestis came in third with 1,077 votes and business-friendly advocate Erin Mancini got 791 votes, according to unofficial results from Town Clerk Ellen Planer.

Hemphill, 53, operates a historic preservation woodworking business and has served on several local land conservation and trail groups.

He said he supports the comprehensive plan for future development and considers the town’s public schools to be an important feature of Falmouth.

McBrady, 47, the business development director at Zachau Construction in Freeport, also identified himself a fiscal conservative and said he believes Falmouth should be more business-friendly.

He said he’s a strong supporter of the town’s schools, but he’d push for a better balance of spending for all town needs.

Orestis, 48, who heads a long-term care insurance company, said he sought re-election because he wants to continue working on a council that is now free of “divisive personalities” and has become more cooperative without controversy generated by conservative agendas.

Mancini, 31, said she’s a fiscal conservative who ran for the council because she’s always wanted to be involved in policymaking.