By J.W. Oliver
Dresden Treasurer Joseph Atkinson faces two challengers – both longtime civil servants – in his bid for re-election after his first year on the job.
Dresden Town Clerk Patricia Theriault and former Dresden Excise Tax Collector, Town Clerk, and Treasurer Kim Rzasa are the other candidates for the one-year term. The part-time position pays $12,000 per year.
Dresden voters will select a budget review committee member, a first selectman, and a Kennebec Intra-District Schools director for three-year terms, and an excise tax collector, property tax collector, town clerk, and treasurer for one-year terms Tuesday, June 9.
The candidates are Dale Hinote and incumbent Philip Johnston for first selectman, incumbent William Matthews for KIDS director, incumbent Ann Pierce for excise tax collector and property tax collector, incumbent Patricia Theriault for town clerk, and Atkinson, Rzasa, and Theriault for treasurer.
There are no candidates for the budget review committee seat.
The polls will be open at Pownalborough Hall from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Joseph Atkinson
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Atkinson was a businessman and a field engineer with General Electric before spending 21 years in management at Central Maine Power Co. and Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co.
“I’m a mechanical engineer, but I can do bookkeeping and accounting work, and I am a treasurer for three Masonic organizations, but municipal law and the mindset for managing money is completely different in the municipal context,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson’s year as treasurer represents his first foray into municipal government, although he is active in the community in other capacities.
“I have spent an enormous amount of time in voluntary work with the Masons” at various levels, Atkinson said, beginning at the age of 13.
His service with the Masons includes terms as a master councilor in the Masonic youth organization DeMolay, worthy patron of the Order of the Eastern Star, commander-in-chief of the Maine Consistory, and master of the Dresden Masonic lodge.
“I would appreciate the continued confidence of the surrounding neighbors in voting for me again this year,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson lives with his wife of 44 years, Deborah Atkinson. The couple has two adult children.
Kim Rzasa
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Rzasa knows the Dresden town office well. She was excise tax collector and town clerk from 1998-2014, with the exception of a two-year hiatus, and she was treasurer from 2007 or 2008 until 2014.
“Back in 1997, they had a need for some extra help down at the town office and they asked me if I could help,” Rzasa said. She “took an interest in it and I really enjoyed it the whole time I was there.”
She did not run for re-election in 2014.
“I hated not to run last year, but I was just at a point where I needed to break away and not do anything, but I found that I can’t sit still and not do anything,” Rzasa said.
She returned to the town office within the last year to fill in when Atkinson was out sick.
“I didn’t realize how much you miss the people,” she said. She also did not think Atkinson was going to run for a second term, so she entered the race.
The job of treasurer takes about 12 hours a week, far less than her previous responsibilities as excise tax collector, town clerk, and treasurer, Rzasa said. Her experience in the town office would allow her to multitask.
“I can also provide some extra help on the front desk, waiting on customers,” she said.
State law largely mandates what the treasurer can and cannot do. “There’s really not a lot you can change,” Rzasa said, although she did modernize the office when she first started.
“When I took it over, everything was handwritten in ledgers and I put a lot of stuff on the computer and started online banking,” she said.
Rzasa lives with her husband, former Dresden First Selectman John Rzasa. The couple has four adult children, two sons and two daughters, and three grandchildren. She volunteers with Northeast Rottweiler Rescue.
Patricia Theriault
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Theriault is seeking a second one-year term as town clerk as well as election to the treasurer post.
She said she decided to run for treasurer when the town was well into the time frame for prospective candidates to take out nomination papers and there were no candidates for the post.
“I’m here two days a week and I thought, if no one else will run, I will,” she said.
Theriault is active in the community in several capacities beyond her role as town clerk.
She has been a volunteer firefighter for 20 years and she was one of the original members of the Dresden First Responders. She was a paramedic with the agency for 16 years until membership dwindled to her and her husband and the agency dissolved.
She helps coordinate the annual Dresden Summerfest, sits on the Dresden Recreation Committee, and volunteers as a docent at the historic Pownalborough Courthouse.
She lives with her husband, Dresden Assistant Fire Chief Ronald Theriault. The couple has two adult children and four grandchildren.
