Readfield recently lost its town manager and in June will lose the service of Select Board Chair Sue Reay and the selectman with the most experience, P. Greg Durgin.

Neither Reay nor Durgin are seeking re-election.

Instead, four other people are vying for the posts: Bruce Bourgoine, Eugene “Gene” Carbona Jr., James Marr and Christine Sammons.

The town is offering a chance to meet those individuals at a Candidates Night 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, on the second floor of the Town Office.

“I did a stint in public government but don’t wish to continue to do so,” Reay said last week. Reay had taken out nominating petitions to run again but did not return them. She said she made that decision despite getting encouragement from other residents to run again.

“I’ve enjoyed my last three years, and I think I’ve done a good job for the town,” Reay said. She indicated she is not endorsing any particular candidate.

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Durgin has served six years on the select board. He did not return a phone message asking him about his decision not to run again.

The other current office holders remain in place until the end of June.

Stefan Pakulski, who was Readfield town manager for more than 11 years, resigned at the end of January, ending a rocky relationship with the board. A year previously, the board had renewed his contract despite receiving an “opinion survey” signed by 153 people who didn’t want his contract approved.

Reay said Thursday that the board has completed a job description and the ad for a new town manager.

In the meantime, the town treasurer, Teresa Shaw is interim town manager.

Also listed on the ballot for two seats representing Readfield on the board of Regional School Unit 38 is Shawn Roderick, who has been in office for one year and is seeking election to a full, three-year term.

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No candidate filed to run for the second seat, currently held by David Greenham, who is not seeking re-election.

All the select board candidates submitted biographical materials for the town’s newsletter.

Bourgoine, 59, publishes “Maine Lawyers Review,” a specialty newspaper for the legal community in Maine and is executive director of the nonprofit Maine Society of Land Surveyors. He previously worked at the Kennebec Journal and served two terms on the school board.

“I’m running to create the framework for good governance within town,” Bourgoine said. “I think there’s been a lot of division. Until we have a constructive way of governing, we cannot have the discussions we need to have about running the town together.”

Bourgoine set up a website about his candidacy at www.bourgoine.me.

Carbona, 52, is executive director of sales for The Medical Letter Inc., a nonprofit organization that reviews new medicines. Carbona led the effort to get secret voting at the polls on all articles on the annual Town Warrant, a practice debuting in town this year.

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“We really did a good job getting the people to realize it’s everybody’s voice that counts,” Carbona said.

He said he and his family have lived in Readfield for three years, and he has been to almost every selectboard meeting since. He currently serves on the town’s ethics/policy/appointment committee.

Carbona said it seemed to be a small number of people running the town rather than the voice of the majority.

“The fractures run deep here for most residents. A town of this size should not have crises like they do,” Carbona said.

Marr, 50, works as a consultant advising franchisees for HOA, a national restaurant company. Before that he spent 12 years as a regional vice president with Friendly’s Ice Cream. Marr also helped raise more than $1 million for Easter Seals over the past decade. This is his first time he’s sought public office.

“I think we live in a town that can do a little better at spending our money wisely,” he said. “We have a very high mill rate but very few services in return for it.”

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Sammons, 64, graduated from Kents Hill School and moved back to her native Readfield with her family last May.

“I came back to Readfield because I like Readfield, and when my husband retired, I had a chance to come back,” Sammons said. She has a lot of relatives in the town as well.

She works from home as administrator for Bouvel Investment Partners LLC, in Phoenixville, Pa. She spent a number of years volunteering with various civic and school organizations in Pennsylvania and currently serves on the town’s Trails Committee.

“I think the town is great,” Sammons said. “I think the current board has gotten away from good government and is fragmented in what they’re trying to do. They need to have a plan and involve the town in what they want to do. They need to listen to what the town wants.”

Absentee ballots will be available May 11, and the election itself is 8 a.m.-8 p.m. June 9.

Betty Adams — 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @betadams


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