Dexter school board election set for Aug. 5
DEXTER — After a pair of Dexter representatives to the SAD 46 School Board were recalled, the town has started the process to fill the two vacancies.
Nomination papers are available at the town office to fill a term through December 2026 and a term through December 2027, Town Manager Trampas King said in a June 13 Facebook post.
Nomination papers must be filed with the town clerk by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 8. Voting will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 5 in the town hall.
Election results recalling both Alisha Ames by a 381-141 count and Judy Saunders at 382-136 were formally approved by the town council at the June 12 meeting.
The recall election was driven by a group of Dexter residents, calling themselves Stop the Power Trip, who ran a campaign against Ames and Saunders that unfolded primarily online. The group gathered hundreds of signatures on two petitions to add two questions of whether to remove Ames and Saunders on the ballot.
The recall group believed Ames has a conflict of interest because she co-owns and operates a homeschooling co-op, and Saunders should be removed because she violates the school district’s nepotism policy, according to the recall affidavits against the women.
Ames and Saunders were two of the six Dexter representatives on the 13-member school board, which covers Dexter, Exeter, Garland and Ripley.
Ames, who was elected to the board in November 2023 and began her three-year term in January 2024, previously told the Bangor Daily News that she refutes the claim because she wants the best possible education for all Dexter students.
In Saunders’ case, the Stop the Power Trip committee alleged that her school board position violated the district’s nepotism policy because she has an adult child who works in the district.
Saunders was elected in November 2024 and began her three-year term in January. Her daughter was already employed by the district and protected by a contract, according to Saunders.
The town just went through some tumultuous times, Council Chair Andrew Bermudez said, saying the system worked as citizens had the chance to make a decision via the votes.
The town may want to consider starting discussions on closing any loopholes in the charter concerning running for the school board if not meeting criteria already in place, Bermudez said. Doing so could avoid disruptions down the line.
In other business, the council has been meeting twice a week to work on the 2025-26 municipal budget. Numbers from the assessor should be finalized for the next week, King said.
Last July councilors approved a $6,996,747 budget for 2024-25.
The gross figure, which in addition to $4.5 million-plus in town operations, included close to $422,500 for the community’s portion of the Penobscot County tax and $2,056,093 for the SAD 46 budget. The municipal budget was up $43,120 from the year before.
The near $7 million total was partially offset by $2,080,010 in revenues, an amount down by $47,455 from 2023-24. The net budget was just over $4.9 million, a $90,575 increase. The spending plan resulted in a $19.80 mill rate.
The council took a first look at a proposed ordinance change concerning cemetery lot size.
The adjustment says single grave lots shall be limited to one casket or three — instead of two — urns with one headstone.
Space is not running out at the town cemeteries but “it makes things a little easier if something happens to a family member,” King said. Lots are $405 for residents and $805 for non-residents, he added.
The proposed change will be discussed at the July council meeting.
In his report King mentioned the Fourth of July fireworks will take place the evening before at dusk with the Dexter Regional High School campus being a prime viewing spot.
The Independence Day parade will begin at 10 a.m. “It’s a lot of fun for the kids and it’s a lot of fun for the adults,” King said.
A boat parade on Lake Wassookeag starts at noon, often having more than two dozen participants.
The BDN’s Kathleen O’Brien contributed to this story.