LIVERMORE — Residents Cathy and Dennis Lee presented selectpersons with a petition Monday night that asks residents if they want to change the administrative assistant position from appointed to elected.

Selectpersons turned the petition over to Town Clerk Renda Libby to verify signatures, administrative assistant Kurt Schaub said Tuesday.

The petition has 134 signatures, Libby said Tuesday. She will be verifying the signatures to make sure they are registered voters in town.

The Lees would like the question to go before voters at the annual town meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 12, at the Livermore Elementary School.

If voters approve the measure, it would go into effect in June 2014. The elected position would be a two-year term, Libby said.

John Wakefield, chairman of the Board of Selectpersons, said it is his understanding, according to the Maine Municipal Officers manual, that first the town clerk has to verify that a sufficient number of registered voters have signed the petition, then selectpersons review the proposed article to determine whether it asks an unambiguous question and calls for an action the town can legally take. The article must be placed on the next warrant or call a special town meeting within 60 days of the town meeting. Municipal officers have the final say on setting the date. 

Schaub has held the administrative position for nearly 13 years. He was appointed by the Board of Selectpersons in August 2000.

Schaub is also the treasurer. He held that elected position for a decade before Cathy Lee was elected in June 2012 by a 226-219 vote. She resigned Oct. 23, 2012.

Selectpersons appointed Shaub in a 3-2 vote in December to fill out the remainder of Lee’s two-year term.

dperry@sunjournal.com