Richmond voters reelect Bodge, Gritzkewitsch, approve land-use changes
Richmond voters backed two land-use rule changes, then returned Robert Bodge and Marilyn Gritzkewitsch to the Selectboard on a ballot packed with budget votes.
Richmond voters approved two land-use ordinance amendments June 9, giving the town updated rules that include retail marijuana establishments and signage. Both questions passed by close margins, 425 to 400 and 442 to 380, showing support for change but not an overwhelming mandate.
The same ballot sent two familiar names back to the Richmond Selectboard. Incumbent Robert Bodge, seeking a fourth three-year term, finished first with 479 votes, and former board member Marilyn Gritzkewitsch won the second seat with 355. O’Neil LaPlante received 233 votes, and Stephen Caswell, the only newcomer in the four-way race, finished with 223. Caswell described himself as a former Richmond fire chief, while Bodge and Gritzkewitsch both brought prior board experience to the contest. Richmond selectmen are paid a $1,800 annual stipend.
The vote also validated the $9.1 million Richmond School Department budget, 638 to 279. The plan is about $289,000, or 3.3%, higher than the current year’s budget, with $5.4 million to come from local taxpayers, up $210,000, or 4%, even as state funding falls by $103,000. The June 2 town meeting had already approved the town and school budgets, and the June 9 referendum made the school budget official under Maine rules. Voters also weighed in on two school board seats, one budget committee seat and one utilities district trustee seat.
The land-use questions fit a broader pattern in Richmond, where the Planning Board handles ordinance amendments proposed by residents, the Selectboard, the code enforcement officer or the board itself. The board held a public hearing on the 2026 amendments April 22, and the town’s 2023 zoning vote also produced changes, including a new definition of buildings and tighter wetland-conservation rules. Taken together, this year’s results suggest Richmond residents were willing to keep adjusting the town’s development rules, but preferred experienced hands to carry that work out on the Selectboard.
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