About 140 residents at the New Sharon town meeting Saturday strongly defeated three articles asking voters to change the town clerk, treasurer and tax collector positions from being filled by election to three-year appointments made by selectmen.

The town's auditor, Ron Smith of RHR Smith & Co., at the selectmen's request, urged voters to change the way the town's key positions are filled. An appointed employee would ensure the candidate with the best credentials would be hired to protect the municipality's finances, Smith said.

He said his office is doing audits for four municipalities where elected treasurers, tax collectors or clerks allegedly had stolen town funds. Because of current statutes, elected officials are answerable only to the voters, not to selectmen; and in each case, he said, the alleged embezzelers refused to cooperate with the investigations.

"They are hiding under the statutes and refusing to turn over paperwork. Those towns are spending thousands and thousands of dollars on legal fees," Smith said. "Selectmen need to have administrative power over those positions."

Resident Linda Grant said the town already has had a town clerk who was found to have stolen as much as $25,000 between 2002 and 2005. Most of the money eventually was repaid, officials have said in the past, but Selectman Russell Gardner said if the position had been appointive, that theft would not have happened.

An overwhelming majority of voters on Saturday wanted to keep things the way they were, however. One after another, people spoke against the article.

"I value being able to elect my town officials. It is direct democracy," said resident Ed Ferreira.

In other matters, voters agreed to raise $40,000 from taxes and borrow no more than $75,000 to replace the Weeks Mills Bridge, off Weeks Mills Road.

In elections, incumbent Maynard Webster was elected for a three-year term on the Board of Selectmen; incumbent Russell Gardner will fill a two-year term; and incumbent Larry Donald was elected for one year. Scott Pratt, a financial analyst at Franklin Memorial Hospital, was elected treasurer; Rose Mary Eller was re-elected town clerk and tax collector; and Donald Lowe was re-elected road commissioner.

Voters raised about $710,160 for town operations, about $76,000 more than in 2008.