MEXICO – In a four-way race for two Board of Selectmen seats, Tuesday’s voters chose an incumbent and a newcomer.
Barbara D. Laramee, 55, won her second term in a row, getting 136 votes. Peter A. Merrill, 53, won the seat vacated by Chairman Arthur Bordeau, who opted not to seek re-election. Merrill got 100 votes.
Opponents Michael Mann and write-in candidate James David McDonald, respectively, garnered 81 and 47 votes.
Laramee, who is divorced, with two adult children, said early Tuesday evening that she was pleased to be given a second term.
“I’m really happy, because with our new town manager, and the way that we worked on the budget with the Budget Committee and selectmen, and what the townspeople did last night (at town meeting), we’re headed in the right direction,” she said.
She is a department manager at Hannaford.
Laramee said she wants to help decrease Mexico’s $28.50 tax rate.
Merrill, who is married and has seven children, said Tuesday evening that he was also pleased to win.
“I moved here from a small town for this town’s small-town atmosphere, and I would like it to stay that way,” he said.
“We don’t need to be the state of Maine’s next big city,” he added.
“We’ve got a small town, we’re in the mountains, and we need to spruce it up a bit, bring in some businesses, and show the world what we have to offer,” Merrill said.
He served 11 years in the Maine Army National Guard’s 133rd Engineer Battalion out of Portland, and is the assistant manager at Sherwin-Williams in Rumford.
In the two uncontested races, Penny Duguay won another term as town clerk, getting 209 votes, and Randall Canwell won 189 votes and a three-year seat on SAD 43’s Board of Directors.
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