NORTH YARMOUTH — With the Select Board already having one vacancy, and an incumbent not running again, two open seats are up for grabs in this June’s election.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Cumberland, all three town councilors with expiring terms have said they plan to run again.

Nomination papers became available in Cumberland March 1, and are due back to the office of Town Clerk Tammy O’Donnell by 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 17. They were available Monday in North Yarmouth, and are due back to Town Clerk Debbie Grover by 5 p.m. Thursday, April 12.

North Yarmouth Select Board member Peter Lacy resigned last December due to an impending move to Cumberland. His position of chairman went to fellow board member Jennifer Spiers, and the town opted to leave his seat empty until the June election, sparing the town the cost of a special election.

Jeanne Chadbourne, who meanwhile remained vice chairwoman, said Feb. 27 that she would not be running again.

“The wheels turn way too slowly,” she explained, citing the slow progress of projects like the Wescustogo Hall rebuild. “I did what I could, and I’m glad I did what I did, but I don’t want to do it anymore.”

Elected to the board in 2015, Chadbourne had served two terms on both that panel and the School Administrative District 51 Board of Directors in the 1990s and 2000s. She was named North Yarmouth’s Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 2011.

A yearlong position to fill out Lacy’s term is available, as well as a full, three-year term to replace Chadbourne.

In Cumberland, the Town Council terms of Ron Copp (West Cumberland), Shirley Storey-King (At-Large) and George Turner (Cumberland Foreside) are expiring. Storey-King and Turner both have said they will run again, and Copp said he probably will, too.

All three have spent 12 years on the panel.

The SAD 51 board has three expiring terms. Vickie Bell and Karen Campbell, who both represent Cumberland, are not running again, while North Yarmouth member Kate Perrin is seeking re-election.

“The School Board is comprised of very committed members and it has been an honor to serve with them,” said Bell, who served a one-year term followed by a full three-year term. “I am passionate about education and will continue to support the District in other ways.”

Campbell, who spent 2009-12 and 2013-18 on the board, said she has “loved serving on the BOD for 8 years, and I’m proud of all the district has accomplished and all that I was involved in during that time.”

“While it’s good for elected positions such as boards and councils to have some continuity among their members, I also believe that, without term limits, it falls upon elected officials to be willing to step aside and welcome new members and new energy to the table,” she added.

Perrin, elected in 2015, said she feels “the board is doing some very important work and I would like to continue to be part of such an involved and active board.  My professional life is demanding, as is life with three small children, but I greatly value my time spent volunteering for our district and community.”

Also on June’s ballot in North Yarmouth are a five-year term on the Cemetery Commission, a three-year term on the Yarmouth Water District, and three seats on the Budget Committee. The terms of Mark Heath and Stephen Gorden are expiring on the first two panels, as are those of Sandra Falsey and Grace Lovell on the Budget Committee, which also has a vacancy.

Alex Lear can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 113 or alear@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @learics.

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