Dillon residents voted to recall three town council members and elected three new members to replace them in a special election that concluded Tuesday, March 4.

Council members Dana Christiansen, Renee Imamura and John Woods have been recalled and will be replaced by Linda Oliver, Barbara Richard and Joshua Samuel, according to unofficial results from the Dillon Town Clerk’s Office.

Christiansen was recalled by a vote of 187-143; Imamura by a vote of 190-139; and Woods by a vote of 197 to 133, the unofficial results state. The recall election was held by mail-in ballot.

There were four candidates running to replace the members subject to the recall effort. Oliver and Richard each received 196 votes, and Samuel received 175 votes. Candidate Claudia Pillow received 114 votes, not enough to win one of the three seats on the council that became open through the recall effort.

The recall election follows hot on the heels of a referendum election held last fall, where Dillon residents voted to overturn the town council’s approval of a structure with three restaurants, 200 condominium units and retail space proposed by Developer Jake Porrit.

Porritt’s development proposals have proved divisive in town, with many residents calling on the town council to slow down as it approved decisions related to his projects and the metropolitan district that the council helped establish to fund infrastructure related to his projects. 

Christiansen, Imamura and Woods had voted to approve Porritt’s project that was overturned by the referendum as well as the service plan for the metro district. The Dillon residents who organized the recall effort claimed that the three now-former council members failed to listen to constituents, showed a lack of decorum and failed to uphold the town charter’s requirements that government be responsive to the needs of citizens.

Just days before the recall election, Porritt’s attorney issued a cease-and-desist letter to then-candidate Richard, stating that she disseminated false and misleading information, among other claims. Richard has said that the cease-and-desist letter was baseless and an attempt to stifle her speech and campaign as a successor candidate.

In the lead up to the recall election, Richard said that the council had lost the trust of town residents. Richard called for the council to amend or renegotiate the service plan with Porritt’s metro district. She has said that her top priority would be to engage the community in order to balance the town’s financial growth with local values, including workforce housing.

Ahead of the recall election, Oliver said that she had heard from many Dillon residents who expressed concern about Porritt’s redevelopment proposals. Oliver said that as far as redeveloping the town core goes, “bigger is not always better” and that she would focus on creating a diversity of smaller, independent businesses rather than “big city” restaurants, chains and box stores. She said she believes the metro district benefits the developer more than the town and it isn’t necessary for redevelopment.

Samuel ran on the platform that the town needs redevelopment but called for a more balanced approach. With valuable waterfront properties, Samuel said Dillon has leverage with developers and should use that to negotiate walkability, parking improvements and workforce housing. He has also called for updating the service plan with the metro district.

An attorney representing Dillon told the town council last week that it has limited ability to make changes to the service plan unless there are “material modifications” to it.