11/05/03
Voters approve school building
referendums; elect Ray, West to School Board
By a margin of more than 2 to 1, Cape Elizabeth voters Tuesday overwhelmingly
approved bond issues for building renovations and improvements to Cape Elizabeth
High School; and to build a new wing for Pond Cove Elementary School for
kindergarten students.
They also elected Katharine Ray and Richard West to the Cape Elizabeth School
Board.
It was a long day and night for Town election officials and volunteers as
they handled a steady of stream of voters throughout Election Day. Waits
of up to one hour were reported for voters to submit each of the three ballots
-- local, state and county -- into the vote-counting machine.
At days end 4,900 voters had passed through the polls at Cape Elizabeth High
School, a turnout of 62 percent.
Cape Elizabeth voters also voted for a new Cumberland County charter, and
overwhelmingly picked Town Councilor John McGinty, seconded by South Portland's
Nancy Larsen, as their choices to sit on a new County Charter Committee.
On the state ballot, voters were equally vocal against initiatives asking
for a Maine resort casino and for slot machines at race tracks. Voters in
Cape Elizabeth were more evenly divided, however, on the citizen initiative
for property tax relief. Roughly a third of those voting chose the citizen
initiative to have the state fund 55 percent of local education costs; one
third voted for a competing tax-relief measure proposed by the Legislature;
and, one third voted for neither.
Here are the results of Cape's voting:
| Cumberland County Referendum Question |
Yes |
No |
| Shall a charter commission be established for the purpose of establishing
a new county charter? |
2275 |
1871 |
| Charter Commissioners (vote for two) |
Votes |
Babine, Shawn A. Scarborough
|
560 |
Bourke, David M. South Portland
|
692 |
Damicis, James D. Scarborough
|
180 |
Larsen, Nancy L. South Portland
|
1564 |
McGinty, John W. Cape Elizabeth
|
3233 |
Parks, Harold F. Gorham
|
159 |
Reynolds, Robert M. Gorham
|
240 |
| STATE OF MAINE REFERENDUM QUESTIONS |
|
|
| Question 1: Citizen Initiative and Competing Measure |
Votes |
| 1A Citizen Initiative
Do you want the State to pay 55% of the cost of public education, which includes
all special education costs, for the purpose of shifting costs from the property
tax to state resources? |
1666 |
| 1B Competing Measure
Do you want to lower property taxes and avoid the need for a significant
increase in state taxes by phasing in a 55% state contribution to the cost
of public education and by providing expanded property tax relief? |
1539 |
| 1C Against A and B
Against both the Citizen Initiative and the Competing Measure. |
1539 |
|
Yes |
No |
| Question 2: Citizen Initiative
Do you want to allow slot machines at certain commercial horse racing tracks
if part of the proceeds are used to lower prescription drug costs for the
elderly and disabled, and for scholarships to the state universities and
technical colleges? |
1944 |
2912 |
| Question 3: Citizen Initiative
Do you want to allow a casino to be run by the Passamaquoddy Tribe and Penobscot
Nation if part of the revenue is used for state education and municipal revenue
sharing? |
971 |
3899 |
| Question 4: Bond Issue
Water Quality and Pollution Control ($6.9 million) |
3354 |
1315 |
| Question 5: Bond Issue
Universities and Libraries improvements ($19 million) |
2906 |
1759 |
| Question 6: Bond Issue
Transportation improvements ($63.45 million) |
3400 |
1272 |
