MEXICO – The Board of Selectmen unanimously voted Tuesday night to send a letter voicing its support for the town of Jay remaining in Senate District 14.
Jim McHugh of the Oxford County Democratic Office in Mexico told selectmen he was hoping the town would agree to draft a letter to the state redistricting committee explaining why Jay should remain in the district.
Sen. John Patrick, D-Rumford, holds the District 14 seat.
“Right now, Jay is a part of our district, but we’re getting proposals to have Jay removed from the district,” McHugh explained. “We’d like to keep Jay within the district, because we feel that there’s a commonality between our communities and the community of Jay, between paper-making, and the power plants and the gas line. We have a lot more in common with them than with southern Oxford county.”
Jay is in Franklin County.
McHugh said, “Sen. Patrick’s district is the last bastion of industry in our area, and we’d like to keep it together. It’d be advantageous to us and the people that live here.”
Selectman Reggie Arsenault made a motion that Mexico support Jay remaining in Patrick’s district.
According to McHugh, both political parties create maps of how they believe the districts should be set up, and each map goes before the redistricting committee.
“If the committee can’t agree on the districts, then it goes before the court,” McHugh said. “Hopefully, we can agree on it and move on from there.”
Town Manager John Madigan agreed, saying, “It just makes sense to keep Jay and our area in the same district, and it always has.
“I don’t have any issues with that at all,” Madigan continued. “That’s just the reality of it.”
In other business, selectmen unanimously voted to approach the town of Rumford to continue discussion on whether or not to participate in a joint purchase of a hot box used for patching potholes.
Chairman Richie Philbrick told the board he saw the hot box in action and that teaming up with Rumford would be “an awesome idea and would be feasible for both towns.”
Selectman Byron Ouellette said, “It’s an idea worth discussing.”
“I think we should meet up with the Rumford selectmen and figure out whether it’s equitable,” Ouellette said. “Rumford will probably use the thing more, since they have more road to cover.”
Madigan said the hot box would be a good item to share with Rumford, unlike a street sweeper or a sidewalk plow, since it’s highly unlikely either town would need the hot box on the same day.
The board also voted to reschedule its budget workshop meeting from March 14 to March 21 at 6 p.m.
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- Mexico Selectman Reggie Arsenault, left, and Selectman George Byam look over the monthly budget report during Tuesday night’s board meeting.
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