March 29, 2024
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Mount Desert selectman resigns position

MOUNT DESERT – Emily Damon Pascal has resigned her seat on the Board of Selectmen for personal reasons. Selectmen accepted her resignation during their Monday meeting.

In a letter to board Chairman Rick Savage dated June 15, Damon Pascal said her decision to leave the board was a difficult one.

“This decision has weighed very heavy on my mind for the last month,” she said. “However, I will not be doing the voters justice if my heart is not in the job.”

Damon Pascal was elected in 2002. Her term expires in March 2005, according to Town Clerk Kim Parady.

Pascal’s husband, Nicene-Marks Pascal, died in March at the age of 33. The couple operated the popular 151 Main St. restaurant in Northeast Harbor.

Damon Pascal could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

“I have gained a wealth of knowledge and a broader vision of how our town functions,” she wrote in her June 15 letter. “It has been an interesting journey, full of many good memories.”

“I am personally overwhelmed, and I do not have the time to put 100 percent into the BOS,” she said.

Savage said Damon Pascal was not squeamish about giving her opinion and conversely, she respected others’ point of view.

“I have always respected Emily’s opinions,” Savage said. “She had strong feelings about issues and she wasn’t afraid to bring them before the board.”

Town Manager Michael MacDonald said he would miss Damon Pascal for several reasons. He said she brought a woman’s perspective to the board, which forced the other selectmen to look at issues differently sometimes.

She also had a good sense of humor, MacDonald said, “and kept us on track a lot of the time” when the board would drift away from the agenda item at hand.

“I will miss her,” he said.

Savage said he has not yet talked to the other selectmen about how to fill Damon Pascal’s seat until the March 2005 town meeting.


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