Friedmann and Minutolo returned to office.
JUN 12, 2024
BAR HARBOR—The Bar Harbor election results came in shortly after 10 p.m. Here’s a quick breakdown of what passed and who will be elected officials. There were 1614 votes cast for a turnout of 31%. The total voting population is 5,202. Last June, the voter turn out was 30.7% with 1,555 casting ballots.
The voters returned Joseph Minutolo and Gary Friedmann to the Town Council.
Elections
The following offices were elected by the voters:
- Bar Harbor Town Council Two seats – Three-year terms
- Superintending School Committee One seat – Three-year term
- MDI High School Trustee One seat – Three-year term
- Warrant Committee Five seats – Three-year terms
Town Council Races
There were two seats up for grabs on Bar Harbor’s seven-member council. Councilors Gary Friedmann and Joe Minutolo chose to run for reelection. They faced Michael Boland, Charles Sidman, Nina Barufaldi St.Germain, and Nathan Young.
- Michael Boland – 488
- Gary Friedmann – 648
- Joseph Minutolo – 743
- Charles Sidman – 248
- Nina St.Germain – 582
- Nathan Young -354
Warrant Committee
There were five seats up for grabs on Bar Harbor’s Warrant Committee. All are three-year terms. Brooke Blomquist, Steven Boucher, Barbara Dunphey, Meagen Kelly, and Bailey Stillman were elected.
The candidates were:
Brooke Blomquist – 700
Steven Boucher – 723
Barbara Dunphey – 713
Gary Jennings – 566
Meagen Kelly – 874
Bailey Stillman – 766
Superintending School Committee
There was one open seat on the school committee and one candidate, incumbent Marie Yarborough. She was returned to office with 1,179 votes.
MDI High School Trustee
Robert Jordan ran unopposed for his seat and was elected with 1,157. Another seat remains open.
THE FOUR PROPOSED LAND USE CHANGES
The voters approved all four proposed land use changes.
ARTICLE TWO – EMPLOYEE LIVING QUARTERS
This amendment allowed the housing type “employee living quarters-1” in 11 new districts and then in 13 districts for the second type of quarters. It passed with 1212-297.
ARTICLE THREE – SHARED ACCOMMODATIONS
This article increased the areas in town that shared accommodations would be allowed. It passed 934-575.
In shared accommodations, the dwelling does not have to be occupied by all the employees of the same business nor does the housing have to be related to employment.
The town produced a packet of information about articles two and three, which can be accessed here.
ARTICLE FOUR – INCREASED HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES
This passed 978-530.
According to the town, “This amendment is necessary to comply with LD 2003 and LD 1706. It is part of a statewide effort to increase housing units by requiring municipalities to remove some regulatory barriers to housing production. It allows for a density bonus of 2.5 times the base density for affordable housing developments in certain areas. It generally allows between two and four housing units per lot where housing is permitted, as well as allowing accessory dwelling units to be located on the same lot as a single-family home, under certain conditions.
“Furthermore, the amendment would delete Bar Harbor’s ‘bonus dwelling unit’ use because LD 2003 requires a comparable but more permissive use, referred to as accessory dwelling units. The amendment would also prohibit dwelling units expressly created under these provisions to be registered and/or used as short-term rentals.”
A packet of town-produced materials about this article can be viewed here.
ARTICLE FIVE – DESIGN REVIEW
This passed 1258-224.
Per the town’s explanation, “This amendment will:
- Update some properties names in Appendix A — Historic Properties in Design Review Overlay District;
- Amend a definition related to signage review;
- Simplify the review process for signs;
- Adjust the Design Review Overlay district boundaries and area names;
- Minimize redundancy by removing Appendix B — Locally Significant Properties in Design Review Overlay District and all reference to it;
- Allow more time for the Planning and Code Department to review Design Review Board applications.”
STATE PRIMARIES
There were 353 ballots cast in the Republican primary and 1,1046 in the Democratic primary. The only contested race was in the District 2 Republican primary race. There, Austin Theriault defeated Michael Soboleski, 188-114.
UPDATES: This was updated to include written representation of the total number of registered voters as well as the paragraph about the state primaries. On June 12, we updated our hand-held images to the ones dispersed by the town.
It was updated again on June 13 to reflect the following, per Town Clerk Liz Graves, “The official town election results distributed Tuesday evening contained an error in the description of the offices—not related to the results themselves. It indicated that two members of the Superintending School Committee were to be elected, rather than one. Corrected version posted on the Municipal Building bulletin board and here”
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Disclosure: Shaun Farrar, my husband, ran for Warrant Committee. He also writes for the Bar Harbor Story, and he collected the election results tonight.
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When are people going to realize that they need to vote in every election, primary or not? 31% of the voters got to decide your local government and land proposal outcomes for you! Great job! People need to wake up if we are going to make any real, positive change for this town!