York Town News
Selectman steps down due to illness
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - Almost anyone who knows Selectman Torbert Macdonald, Jr., is aware that for years he has been battling the illness commonly known as Lyme disease.That knowledge, however, did not seem to lessen the surprise residents and officials felt when they learned Monday that the disease has progressed to the point where he has decided to resign from the Board of Selectmen.
Macdonald's announcement came in the form of a letter read to the board by his sister, Laurie Macdonald, who explained he was physically unable to attend.
"It is with heavy heart and deep regret that I hereby tender my resignation from the York Board of Selectmen effective upon the election of my successor," Macdonald wrote.
Citing the dozen years he has battled Lyme disease, and the prevalence of ticks carrying Lyme in and around York, Macdonald urged the town to pay more attention to the disease and raise awareness of it, adding new treatments are being developed.
"I am beginning to avail myself of these treatments and remain hopeful of a long-term positive outcome," he wrote. "In order to best assure this progress, however, I must remove as much stress as possible from daily life - a condition at odds with full-time participation in the full contact combat sport known as York electoral politics."
In spite of that, Macdonald wrote in his letter and confirmed during an interview by telephone Tuesday morning, he hopes to continue serving the town in other ways.
"I will not disappear from public life, and plan to write and speak about the pressing issues of the day - and with more critical freedom than I now possess as the sole voice on the Board of Selectmen advocating for conservation and the control and management of growth," he noted in his letter. "A return to the electoral fray, health contingent, is also a strong possibility."
After reading her brother's letter, Laurie Macdonald urged the board to acknowledge that his decades of service to the town as a member of the Conservation Commission, Planning Board and Board of Selectmen have "been for the benefit of others, and not for personal power, nor personal gain. He is a genuinely honorable man, and he has been a public servant in the truest sense. He has been a servant of the people."
Selectmen Chairman David Marshall was the first to respond.
"Certainly as a member of this board, I have great compassion for Torbert's situation," he said.
Vice Chairman Dwight Bardwell agreed.
"My best conversations with Torbert have been off camera," he said, calling Macdonald "the best debater I've probably been around in my entire life … Is he a thorn? Absolutely. Does he know it? Absolutely? Does he enjoy it? I think he does. That's just the role he played, and he knew it."
It was important to have that voice on the board, Bardwell said.
"I think he'll be missed," he said. "I truly do."
Selectman Mike Estes wished Macdonald a speedy recovery.
"We will miss from him his vast knowledge of the town zoning and the state zoning," he said, adding that while he and Macdonald did not always agree, they could walk away as "gentlemen and friends."
Like Macdonald, he said, he believes York should be place where young people can work and raise their families.
"I will carry that legacy with me and hope that he will be able to join me again and make that a reality," he said. "We truly will miss him as a board member. I think he added a wonderful balance to this board."
Selectman Len Dorrian said it is important to recognize the difference between an adversary who respects differences and an antagonist, who does not.
"I've never felt that Torbert was an antagonist," he said, wishing him "a speedy recovery and gaining strength as the time goes on."
Speaking Tuesday morning, Macdonald said the decision was not an easy one to make, adding he had hoped to serve out the remainder of his term, as his health would allow, until a replacement could be elected in May. After discussing that with Town Clerk Mary-Anne Szeniawski on Tuesday, he said, that might not be possible under the charter and he is awaiting a clarification.
As Marshall had acknowledged during the meeting the prior evening, Macdonald's goal has been to spare the town a special election to fill his seat on the board.
Macdonald said Tuesday that his hope is someone will come forward who will work for conservation and continued growth control, with an eye toward restrictions to match the flood mitigation areas of York Beach and Cape Neddick and to protect the town's unfragmented parcels of land.
"I don't begin to understand the lack of logic between planning priorities for ordinance development and the obvious need to curb and manage growth," he said. "…We should have a transfer of development rights from the interior of those blocks to the edges, in properly selected areas" to be established by landowners, selectmen and the Planning Board working together to "preserve property rights and the interior of these incredible spaces."
Macdonald said he hopes residents will come forward who are not motivated by economic interests.
"Unless disinterested citizens - unconnected to real estate development and sales, the construction industry and its suppliers or even the major tourism powers - come forward to serve the interests of all the citizenry and to uphold the constitutionally based rule of law, York will see a return to the unrestrained growth years of the 1980s and '90s," he wrote in his letter, pointing out that the town is only halfway to its total buildout projections.
He cautioned residents not to "remain indifferent and apathetic, cocooned in self-absorbed living" or they will risk losing their voice in democracy.
"Economic interest will show up," he wrote, "will you?"
Anyone interested in filling the remainder of Macdonald's term should contact Town Hall at 363-1000 for details on nomination papers.
