Denault and Lemont seek to reclaim seats they resigned from in Kittery Town Council race

Ian Lenahan, Portsmouth Herald
·3 min read

KITTERY, Maine — Two former Town Council members who resigned days apart from each other in March 2021 are vying for a return to the council this fall, running along with an incumbent councilor and a town board member.

Ex-councilors Charles Denault and Kenneth Lemont, current Town Councilor Cameron Hamm, and realtor H. Scott Mason are the four candidates who will campaign for two open seats on the council in the November election.

The contenders are all vying for the available three-year-terms, while another four candidates are running for two expiring Kittery School Committee positions in the upcoming election, according to Town Clerk Jillian Richards. The town election filing period, which opened in July, closed on Friday afternoon.

Clockwise, from top left: Former Kittery Town Council members Charles Denault and Kenneth Lemont are running for election back onto the Town Council in the November town and state election. The two both resigned from the Town Council days apart from each other in March 2021. Newcomer H. Scott Mason, a member of the Kittery Port Authority and the town's Economic Development Committee is also running, and incumbent Town Councilor Cameron Hamm has filed for re-election. The four are competing for two available seats on the ballot.

Hamm’s re-election bid comes after his June 2021 election victory for the seat vacated by Lemont, which he has held since.

Newcomer Mason serves on the Kittery Port Authority and the town’s Economic Development Committee. Mason’s term as a business representative to the Economic Development Committee ends in 2025, and his Port Authority term lasts until the end of 2027.

Denault, a retired 25-year Kittery Police Department veteran and former sergeant, is running for the Town Council a second time since resigning from office over two years ago.

At the time, Denault, then a seven-plus-year member of the council, submitted his resignation and was later found by a town-hired investigator to have surveilled town public works personnel.

After receiving a complaint about the department and leading his own investigation into employees, which town officials later deemed a violation of the town charter, Denault presented his findings to Town Manager Kendra Amaral but resigned shortly thereafter.

That June, current Councilor Mary Gibbons Stevens was voted in by residents to take over Denault’s vacated seat. Stevens won re-election last fall.

Less than a year after his resignation, Denault lost his bid to rejoin the council in the November 2021 election.

Citing health reasons, Lemont resigned a few days following Denault in March 2021. The former state legislator and town School Committee member later admitted to joining Denault for a ride-along during Denault’s surveillance but did not take any actions during it. Lemont previously added that he joined Denault for his meeting with Amaral to present the findings.

The report from Denault, a redacted version of which was made public by the town, included photos he secretly took of employees shopping in local stores and of their cars. Accusations included that town employees were altering timecards, going shopping while working and improperly using town vehicles, among other allegations. Almost all of the claims were found to be false, lacking evidence, “unsubstantiated,” or held “no basis to investigate further,” per town records.

The investigator found that Lemont, who stated in the past that he believed Denault didn’t cross a line when meeting with Amaral, had minimal involvement in Denault’s investigation.

From 2021: Kittery manager: Ex-councilor had 'profoundly negative impact' on staff

Town Council members at the time of the back-to-back surprise resignations later released a statement claiming they were prepared to censure Lemont and remove Denault from the council for their actions.

The second Town Council seat on the November ballot is currently held by councilor George Dow, who did not file for re-election. Now in his third council term overall, Dow served as a councilor from 2007 until 2013, then chaired the town’s Economic Development Committee and held other volunteer titles before winning another Town Council term in 2020.

The two School Committee incumbents whose terms are ending this fall, Eric Lemont and Karen Matso, have filed for re-election, according to Richards.

Two other candidates will also be battling for the two School Committee positions: former School Committee member Rhonda Pomerleau, who is a declared write-in candidate, and resident Olivia White.

The municipal and state referendum election will be held at the Kittery Community Center on Tuesday, Nov. 7 from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kittery ME race sees former town councilors trying to win back seats