Lamoine Teen Killed—Community Mourns

(Lamoine) - June 20th, the last full day of spring, Jina Haslam got up early (for a 14-year old girl) and took her dog for a walk to Lamoine State Park. On her way back home she stopped on the side Lamoine Beach Road to chat with her aunt Debbie who was headed toward Ellsworth. Driving toward Lamoine Beach was 81-year old Natalie Barr of Lamoine who's car hit Jina's bike, throwing the teen-ager more than 25-feet.

EMT Dustin Leyendecker of Hancock, a mechanic at Burnett's garage a short distance away, heard the Lamoine Fire Department paged to the accident. He responded and was on the scene quickly and began treatment. Lamoine firefighters were there in less than 10-minutes with County Ambulance right behind them. LifeFlight helicopter was immediately called in, a landing area established at the nearby Lamoine Beach parking area, all in the effort to try to save a young life.

Jina's injuries were too severe—head and chest trauma from where she hit the vehicle's windshield. The paramedics from LifeFlight got her to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Later that evening her parents made the agonizing decision to remove life support and donate her organs so that others in need could live. The Hancock County Sheriff's Department is investigating how the vehicle struck Jina, and how fast it was going. A shocked neighborhood stood by while EMT's, firefighters and police officers responded. Many of the emergency workers were deeply affected by the death—as were Jina's classmates, neighbors and her large family. More on the community reaction and Jina is on page 2.

Janina (Jina) Haslam

February 2, 1991—June 20, 2005

Town Loses Harbor Master Bill Pinkham

(Lamoine) — The Town suffered another shock on July 4th as friends, colleagues and neighbors learned of the death of Bill Pinkham. The 62-year old Buttermilk Road resident collapsed after running a road race in Bangor.

He had just completed the race and was headed into the cooling off area for a drink of water when he collapsed.

Pinkham was a familiar fixture in Lamoine. He retired as the chief of the Maine Marine Patrol and settled on Buttermilk Road with his wife Amelia. Their daughter Connie and her husband Rick built a house next door where they are raising three of Bill's grandchildren.

Pinkham served as a representative to the Legislature in the Maine House for 8-years, having been forced out by term limits. He ran for the State Senate, but came up short in his bid to current Senator Dennis Damon. He was a staunch Republican and was very active with the Hancock County Republican Party, and on the local political scene. Bill twice ran for Selectman, but was edged out on both occasions, including a 3-way race earlier this year. He was a regular at the Lamoine General Store often discussing the politics of the day.

Pinkham, though retired, never stopped going. An avid road racer, he was a constant presence on Maine's racing circuit. He ran the Boston Marathon several times, and could be seen jogging all over Lamoine. He served the town as its only harbor master since the ordinance passed in 1995, and was just reappointed to the position in late June. He drove for a courier service for many years, and most recently worked for the Hancock County Sheriff's Department maintaining the fleet of vehicles and serving civil papers. A true community leader, Bill Pinkham will be missed.

William “Bill” Pinkham

Harbor Master-Former Legislator

September 20, 1942-July 4, 2005

Town Files Complaint Following Campaign Mailing

(Lamoine) — The Attorney General's office may investigate a complaint generated by the town office about possibly improper election activity by an unidentified party. Days before the June 28th special town meeting referendum, a flyer was mailed to select voters in town. Also in the envelope was a photocopy of the official town ballot. No return address was on the envelope and no group claimed authorship of the flyer.

The problem is the copy of the official ballot. When Deputy Town Clerk Stu Marckoon entered the town office the morning of the election, he discovered two of the ballot copies had been checked off and were sitting on the floor as if they'd been placed in the mail slot during the overnight hours. He called Maine Municipal Association who referred the town to the Secretary of State. The Hancock County District Attorney's Office was also contacted. Assistant DA Carlotta Bassano advised the town to proceed with the election as planned, but to isolate the ballot copies and not to count them. The polls opened as planned at 10:00 AM.

By late afternoon the Secretary of State's office was again in contact with town officials and advised them to fax a complaint which would be relayed to the Attorney General's Office for possible investigation. Selectman Chair Jo Cooper spoke several times to Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap—her brother and expressed her concern that people who might have though they were casting ballots were disenfranchised by the mailing. The town office received another of the ballot copies in the mail the day after the election with votes seemingly cast.

Town Clerk Jennifer Kovacs and Deputy Clerk Marckoon report the only way they could think that a photocopy of the official ballot could be made is through the absentee voting process. That process allows people to apply for ballots to take home to family members in order to cast their vote. Three absentee ballots were cast in the manner and the list is expected to be sought during any investigation.

The Secretary of State also indicated that there might be a problem with sending out campaign material but failing to identify the source. A similar looking mailing was circulated prior to the Special Town Meeting in April.

Ballot Clerks Marion McDevitt & Kay Bragdon tally the votes in the June 28th Referendum

Town Votes on Budget Cuts Forced by Legislation

(Lamoine) — Lamoine voters sent a message on April 28th, but just whom it was directed to isn't clear. By a 110 to 70 margin, voters rejected an increase to the municipal tax commitment cap imposed by the Maine Legislature through LD-1, which passed in late January, but doesn't take effect until July 1st. The legislation, which is aimed at tax reform, limits the amount any municipality can raise in property tax to the current fiscal year multiplied by income growth and community growth. The problem in Lamoine is that for the 2004/05 budget, the town meeting approved more money in non property tax revenues than the municipal budget needed. Therefore, the starting basis for the municipal tax commitment was zero. The bottom line means that the town cannot use any property tax money to fund municipal operations until an override is approved.

The Selectmen and Budget Committee saw the vote as a clear message that the town meeting wanted budget cuts. Both boards also said the LD-1 matter was quite confusing and the town meeting was not prepared to adequately explain what had happened. With budget cutting in mind, the two boards went to work, and came up with just over $57,000 in reduced expenditures and increased non-tax revenues to meet the LD-1 requirements. Both also felt the measure should receive a referendum vote, and the date was set for June 28th.

At the required public hearing, the three dozen or attendees were critical of the proposed cuts. Most criticized was a reduction in the public safety budget of nearly $9,000 to renew the contract with County Ambulance, Inc. Selectmen spent several meetings with County Ambulance talking about why Lamoine should pay for service when the City of Ellsworth does not. The decision to propose the cut came before the final meeting with County, and after that final meeting, the Selectmen seemed to agree that maintaining the contract that has been in place for 33-years is a big benefit to the town.

Voters approved the budget cuts at the special town meeting referendum on June 28th. Many, though, said they were confused by the entire matter. The final vote was 210 in favor and 167 opposed to the budget cuts. Approval of the question will allow the tax assessors to make a legal commitment when the time comes later this summer.

A second referendum question asked voters to approve moving $6,000 from the road fund to cover higher than expected paving costs on Shore Road. The price of oil increased sharply which drove up the bid prices for asphalt. That measure passed 194 to 180, which will allow the project to proceed as planned.

The Selectmen met on June 30th in reaction to the vote two days earlier. The Board voted to hold a special town meeting on July 13th to ask that the contract with County Ambulance be renewed with surplus funds.