PALERMO — The issues voters will decide at the annual town meeting next month are set and absentee ballots are available, said Town Clerk Sheila McCarty.

There are two election contests. Simeon Blake Brown, Holly Harmon and Robert Temple all seek to succeed Sophia Glidden for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen and incumbent Contessa Mancini and challenger Angela Nelson want to be town treasurer for the next three years.

Voting will be from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, March 9 in the Town Office.

On Saturday, March 10, voters will assemble at 9 a.m. at Palermo Consolidated School for the Town Meeting to decide 2012 town appropriations and policy issues.

Several of the meeting questions aim to start enacting recommendations from the Compensation Committee, which reported to selectmen last fall with proposed changes in town government.

The draft warrant selectmen discussed on Thursday asks whether voters will change the positions of tax collector, treasurer and town clerk from elected to appointed positions, for three-year terms. The change would take effect when each elected official’s current term ends.

The warrant also seeks authority for selectmen to establish annual salaries or other compensation rates for all town positions, elected, appointed or hired, based on the budget voters approve at the annual town meeting; and to develop and enact personnel policies for all officials.

And it proposes lower expenditures for municipal wages in 2012 than in 2011, although selectmen and the Budget Committee differ on how large the reduction should be.

According to the draft, nearly $138,000 was appropriated for pay and federal insurance tax and Medicare payments last year. For 2012, unless the final version of the warrant changes, selectmen recommend $118,800 and the Budget Committee recommends $112,920.

The selectmen’s next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 23.

 

Copy the Story Link