Dresden Town Clerk Kim Rzasa has determined two separate citizens’ petitions seeking to recall Dresden Selectmen Alan Moeller Sr. and Dave Probert are invalid.
Wiscasset Code Enforcement Officer Rick Lang and his wife Wanda Lang filed the petitions Dec. 5 in response to a perceived lack of action on two issues: a shared Code Enforcement Officer/Licensed Plumbing Inspector contract with Richmond and an alleged conflict of interest in Moeller’s selectman duties.
Both petitions obtained the minimum number of signatures required to qualify for a town vote, Rzasa said Dec. 19, but the petition forms did not specify the reason for the recall.
According to a Dresden ordinance, a recall petition must specify the reason for the recall. As submitted, the petitions only specified the intent to recall Probert and Moeller and did not cite a reason for doing so.
Moeller expressed pleasure at Rzasa’s ruling. “I love it,” he said. “We’ve done nothing wrong.”
In comments made by phone after the meeting, Lang said he hoped the petition would send a message to the Board.
“I think a lot of the local residents have spoken to the issue of a selectman working by the hour and signing the warrant and have shown dissatisfaction with our contract with Richmond,” Lang said. “Hopefully the selectmen will use this as a wakeup call.”
Lang said he has no plans to file another petition. He said he has discussed the issues with an attorney but has not decided to pursue legal action. Lang said he would make a final decision after the New Year.
