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Election 2007: Benjamin Meiklejohn loses his seat as Kathleen Snyder and Jaimey Caron are elected.

By KELLEY BOUCHARD Staff Writer November 7, 2007

Two newcomers won at-large seats on the Portland School Committee Tuesday, with incumbent Benjamin Meiklejohn being unseated.

Kathleen Snyder and Jaimey Caron were the top vote-getters, receiving 7,534 votes, 35 percent, and 4,609 votes, 21 percent, respectively.

Orlando Delogu received 3,540 votes, 16 percent, Leslie Minton received 3,080 votes, 14 percent, and Meiklejohn received 2,737 votes, 13 percent.

The other incumbent, Ellen Alcorn, didn't seek a second three- year term.

Budget problems, a superintendent search and middle school contraception were top issues in a race that Meiklejohn said he didn't expect to win.

Meiklejohn was criticized for his role as finance subcommittee chairman this year, when the district developed a $2 million deficit in the $82 million budget that ended June 30.

Superintendent Mary Jo O'Connor and Finance Director Richard Paulson resigned as a result of that deficit.

"I'm not surprised," Meiklejohn said of his loss. "I braced myself for any outcome. It's been an honor to serve the people of Portland for six years." Public service comes with great personal sacrifice, and I won't miss that sacrifice."

Meiklejohn defended his unsuccessful efforts to get monthly financial reports before the budget crisis erupted.

His challengers said he didn't do enough and offered solutions ranging from posting detailed budget information online to establishing educational priorities as the basis of line-by-line spending scrutiny.

"There's a lot of work to do," Caron said. "It's a young committee with a lot of new ideas, and I'm hoping that translates into a lot of good changes for the district."

Caron, 42, is a civil engineer and former Planning Board member. Snyder, 37, is a research associate with the Boston University Global Health Primary Care Initiative.

She couldn't be reached for comment.

On the search for a new superintendent, all of the candidates said the person should have both solid educational and financial experience.

On the committee's recent 7-2 decision to make prescription birth control available at King Middle School, the candidates agreed that the issue should have been studied further before the committee voted. Meiklejohn voted against the measure.

While Portland's municipal races are nonpartisan, Meiklejohn's defeat will reduce the number of Green Independent Party members on the committee to two.

Three Greens -- Meiklejohn, Susan Hopkins and Rebecca Minnick -- currently hold seats on the nine-member committee dominated by Democrats. Caron and Snyder are Democrats.

Peter Eglinton, a Democrat elected to the District 3 seat in a June special election, was uncontested Tuesday in his bid for a full term.

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com