OLD ORCHARD BEACH — Bob Quinn is the only councilor who will remain seated, as residents voted to remove the remaining six councilors in recall elections Tuesday.
The measure to recall Quinn failed, 1,315 to 814.
Residents voted to recall Laura Bolduc 1,367 to 763; Michael Coleman 1,073 to 1,062; Robin Dayton 1,115 to 1,027; Dana Furtado 1,353 to 767; Sharri MacDonald 1,385 to 748; and Linda Mailhot, 1,330 to 801.
In choosing replacements for the recalled councilors, residents elected Roxanne Frenette over Ryan Kelly, 851-724, to replace Bolduc.
Kenneth Blow bested David Francoeur, 988-749, to replace Coleman.
Jay Kelley won Dayton’s seat with 733 votes, while Michael Tousignant received 721, Richard Greenlee received 183 and Cari-Lyn Lane received 135.
Three candidate ran unopposed ”“ Joseph Thornton will replace Furtado, Shawn O’Neill will replace MacDonald and Malorie Pastor will replace Mailhot.
A movement to recall MacDonald, Mailhot, Bolduc and Furtado surfaced after the four fired former Town Manager Mark Pearson, and a separate effort to recall the remaining three sprang up soon after.
The recall movements have caused emotions to run high in town, with strong sentiments voiced openly at town meetings and posted on Facebook pages. At the polls Tuesday, there was a police presence.
Tuesday night, after the polls had closed and the votes counted, the Recall 4 Facebook page, run by those in favor of ousting MacDonald, Bolduc, Mailhot and Furtado, was buzzing.
The last post by the group, at around 11:30 p.m., included a picture of fireworks and thanked residents for their participation in the election.
“We, The People, Of Old Orchard Beach, took back our town today. We believed change was possible. We achieved change together. There, of course, is much to be done, but tonight we exist simply in the presence of the historic moment. Until tomorrow ”¦”
Wednesday morning, the Facebook postings had quieted down.
MacDonald, who is a state representative, posted at 6:30 a.m., “Just leaving Old Orchard Beach for Augusta ”“ I still believe in my town and will continue to work hard for all of you.”
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or [email protected].
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