The opportunity to participate in local governance is one of the gifts of living on this peninsula. This opportunity will first be available on Southport as it is the first town on the peninsula to have its town meeting, which this year will be held on Monday, March 6 at the Southport Town Hall. From 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Southporters may vote by secret ballot on Articles One and Two. Voting on Articles Three through Sixty-five will begin at 7:30 p.m. the same day.

Some of those votes will occur by voice vote or show of hands; others may be conducted by paper ballot.

Article One asks voters to vote for the meeting moderator. Again this year, Matt Cole will be nominated.

Article Two asks voters to vote for Selectman, Assessor, and Overseer of the Poor (one position), a Treasurer, a Town Clerk, a member of the School Committee, and a Boothbay Region Water District Trustee, each position for a three-year term. Only the position of treasurer and member of the school committee are contested. Laura Hughes has filed the necessary papers to run for each of these positions. Current selectman Gerry Gamage, school board member Jane Mulholland, treasurer Gail Sprague, and water district trustee Smith Climo have filed papers to stand for reelection to these positions.

When the meeting reconvenes at 7:30 p.m., the next three articles, 3-5, will be asking for your vote for one member of the Board of Library Trustees, two members of the Board of Cemetery Trustees, and three members of the Budget Committee. Each position is sought by the current member except for Jean Hasch, who is resigning from the Cemetery Trustees. Bruce Froehlich will be nominated to fill that position.

Voters will be asked to vote $967,903.11 for our Southport children’s schooling, an increase of $11,739 over last year, and about $15,611 per student. Overall the town will ask us to approve an appropriation of $2,920,875.37, about $15,185 less than last year.

In addition to fiscal matters, several articles concern changes to town by-laws.

Article 29 asks voters to approve the sale of spirituous liquors at Oliver’s Restaurant in Cozy Harbor, an addition to the beer, wine, and soft drinks currently allowed for sale. Also concerning Oliver’s, Article 30 asks voters to change the by-laws so that the restaurant may advertise.

Article 31 asks voters to make Southport a "dry town"as pertains to marijuana. That is “there shall be no commercial sale, retail production, retail establishments, or marijuana social clubs within the confines of Southport.” As state law allows, personal and medical uses of marijuana would not be prohibited.

Two other new articles are Article 38 asking for funding to purchase a new plow truck and plow for a total of $41,000, and Article 58, which asks that the town vote to support the Joint Economic Development Committee with $5,000.

Copies of the Town Report, dedicated this year to Fire Chief and Selectman Gerry Gamage, are available at the Town Hall, the Island Store, and the Southport Memorial Library.