VIENNA — A municipal election Friday evening will be followed by the business portion Saturday of the annual Town Meeting, both at the Community Building on Kimball Pond Road.

Polls are open 4-8 p.m. Friday, with three posts contested. All municipal offices carry one-year terms.

Troy Bean, Danny Goucher and Alan Williams are seeking the post of road commissioner following Linwood Meader Jr.’s retirement.

Williams, who works in construction and logging, has served on the town Planning Board for more than 30 years.

“The smart vote will vote for me,” he said. “I count my experience in decades.”

Alan Williams, 61, lost 126-118 to Meader last year and was road commissioner from 1980 to 1982.

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“I had a young family, and did not have the time to devote to the job properly,” Williams said. “Now the kids are grown up and on their own.”

Troy Bean ran for selectman a decade ago. He was unavailable for comment.

Published records show that another contender, Danny Goucher, the third contender, was elected road commissioner in 1999.

Connie Smith, 45, and Annie Tibbetts, 46, both are running for election to the posts of town clerk and tax collector. Connie Smith won the clerk’s job last year 125-124 over Tibbetts. Smith retained the tax collector post over Tibbetts by a handful of votes after a recount. Smith has been clerk for 15 years and tax collector for the past 14 years. Smith said she also works part-time at the Mount Vernon Post Office.

The two town posts take up to 25-30 hours a week depending on the season, Smith said, and when she’s unavailable, she said her daughter, Felicia Smith, is trained as deputy clerk. Connie Smith does the jobs from home.

She’s sent letters to Vienna residents seeking their support for her re-election. She described herself as a hard-working dedicated, honest person.

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Tibbetts said support from residents last year encourage her to run again.

“I lost by one vote on one race and three on the other and I would really like the jobs,” she said. “I know that I can do a good job for the town.”

Tibbetts has experience in the town clerk and tax collector positions, having served as deputy town clerk and deputy tax collector in Mount Vernon from 2006 through June 2011. She is currently deputy town clerk in Farmington. All are part-time posts. “I am quite confident in my abilities,” she said.

She too campaigned by sending a letter to residents.

On Saturday, residents will gather to conduct business.

The municipal budget is just over $506,000, some $8,000 higher more than the current year’s. First Selectman Dodi Thompson said the property tax rate, which stands at $15.22 for each $1,000 worth of property, should remain “pretty close” to what it is now.

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That rate supports both the town budget as well as the school budget. The latter will not be set until later in the year, but in the past has been roughly equal to the municipal budget. Vienna is part of Regional School Unit 9.

Money for road repairs, paving, and maintenance make up just over $288,000 and account for the bulk of the town’s budget. Some $152,000 of that money goes to a contractor for snow removal, Thompson said.

The most recent census shows the town has 573 residents, and Thompson said fewer people have attended the annual town meeting in recent years.

“We never have much more than 100 unless there’s something controversial,” Thompson said. “The meetings have gone very quickly. We try to keep the budget as close to the bone as we possibly can.”

Betty Adams — 621-5631
badams@centralmaine.com


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