Alna’s third selectman seat is the only contested race to be voted on at the March town meeting and a recent email from a private resident has turned up the heat of the election.
Jeff and Karen Philbrick sent an email to an undisclosed list of Alna residents encouraging them to vote for incumbent David Reingardt, due to challenger Doug Baston’s, “history of leading efforts against school choice.”
According to the text of the email, its intent “is to raise your awareness of how important it is to have all Alna families that are pro school choice vote on 3/20. We are concerned that families may not be aware that this vote is coming up or that it may be important for school choice.”
The email referenced Baston’s support for the defeated LD 1214, An Act to Allow a Referendum Regarding School Choice within Regional School Unit No. 12, in 2011.
According to Baston, the reemergence of school choice as an issue in the election for third selectman is an effort to poison “the municipal bloodstream.”
School choice is not an issue that selectmen have the potential to address, Baston said. Due to changes to the RSU 12 system, such as Wiscasset’s 2013 withdrawal, it is, also, not an issue that needs further discussion, Baston said.
“School choice is the only choice for Alna, and it’s working out well for people,” Baston said.
According to Baston, his previous support for LD 1214 came about due to fiscal concerns post school consolidation. The cost of tuition for school choice, when there were schools for Alna students in the RSU-12 district, was “bleeding the RSU,” Baston said.
Baston said a survey of residents showed approximately 80 percent of respondents in favor of voting on school choice – not eliminating school choice. The legislation was a dead end, Baston said, and Wiscasset’s withdrawal from the RSU-12 left Alna with no alternative but school choice.
According to Baston, the only school-related responsibility selectmen have is to ensure that students on school choice are legal Alna residents.
In a response to the Philbrick’s e-mail sent on Monday, March 9, Baston wrote, “It [the e-mail] is disappointing, because it is a sad example of the climate I’m running to try to change. We’ve had just about enough division in this town, don’t you think? And hasn’t most of it been just like this: creating issues where none exist?”
Baston has asked the Philbrick’s to retract their email, which he said he found personally insulting. The focus of his bid for selectman is to create a spirit of cooperation on Alna’s Board of Selectmen, Baston said. He is also interested in looking into avenues to increase the town’s revenue, such as reevaluating the town’s tax on its power assets and cable franchise.
Reached on March 9, Reingardt said he was unaware an email had been sent out regarding the third selectman’s race. Reingardt said he was aware school choice was a concern for some residents, but he said he was unaware the Philbricks released an email encouraging voters to support him instead of Baston, due to the issue.
The Philbricks did not return a request for comment by press time.
