Gray-- Pam Wilkinson, two-term Councilor and current
chair of the Board, announced Tuesday night that she
does not plan to seek a third term.
Ms. Wilkinson said at the regular Council meeting
that in order to end indirect speculation and direct
questioning that has been posed to her so frequently
of late, she made the announcement to coincide with
the opening day for nomination papers and also as
a birthday present for her husband.
To run for Council, the prospective candidate must
obtain official nomination papers at Town Office and
gather twenty-five to fifty signatures from qualified
voters of the town. This enacts the candidate's eligibility.
Voting takes place in June.
Ms. Wilkinson said that she promised her husband three
years ago that she would only seek one more term and
"I am upholding that promise. I'll be home nights
now, and soon maybe Danny will want me back here!"
Her good-natured joshing did not conceal the dedication
with which she has applied herself to Town endeavors
over the last twenty-five years.
In 1980, Ms. Wilkinson began her municipal sojourn
with a seat on the Gray Planning Board, and moved
from there to various Boards and committees of the
town. In 1999 she ran for a seat on the Council, winning
a second term and a stint as Council Chair.
Under Ms. Wilkinson's tenure, she has overseen the
process of one Manager's departure and supervised
the hiring of another. She has administered the completion
of the Comprehensive Plan Update, a plan which outlines
a guides for direction in Town growth and maintenance.
Ms. Wilkinson began the process for a discussion of
town-wide review of zoning, helped strengthen the
Joint Leaders discussions among peers in the neighboring
New Gloucester and SAD, has participated in and encouraged
the process of the formation of the Central Corridor
Coalition, a group of neighboring towns that meet
to combine political forces on mutually important
issues, and has watched Yarmouth Lumber and other
environmentally sensitive concerns come to completion.
There are three seats open for election in June, two
of which are three-year terms and the other is a one-year
term. Two seats have no candidates as of this printing.
Chair Wilkinson and Vice-Chair Lynn Olson have declined
to run for a second term, but Richard Hall, appointed
to fill ex-Councilor Richard Barter's seat last October,
has said he is running.
Ms. Wilkinson said that is has been her pleasure and
honor to serve. After a sabbatical, she said she plans
to volunteer for several committees and continue to
serve the Town of Gray in other capacities.
