Pittsfield: SAD 53 voters pass budget

By Sharon Kiley Mack, Bangor Daily News (published: May 13, 2008)

PITTSFIELD, Maine - Turnout was pitiful in SAD 53 on Monday for the second step of voting on a $10.3 million budget.

In all three member towns, only 127 voters went to the polls, passing the budget 102-25.

This year, by state requirement, voters had to approve a budget at a town meeting-style gathering, which was held Wednesday. They then were required to vote again Monday on a referendum held in each of the district’s three towns.

In Detroit, only 14 voters turned out.

"It took us longer to do the paperwork than count the votes," Town Clerk Kathy Walston said. The votes were counted in seven minutes and it was a tie: 7-7.

The Burnham town clerk took less than five minutes to count the 24 votes cast there. The breakdown in Burnham was 22-2 in favor.

In Pittsfield, 89 voters handily passed the budget by a vote of 73-16.

The next step in the process will be to vote on a new regional school unit. The RSU vote will be held on June 10 in both SAD 53 and SAD 59, the two consolidating districts. The final consolidation plan received Maine Department of Education approval last week.

The June 10 vote will be held in all the communities in each district and each district’s votes will be totaled. The new school unit board would be elected in November and the unit would begin operating on July 1, 2009.