In a Dec. 23 email, Edgecomb Selectman Dawn Murray gave public notification of her intent to resign effective Dec. 31. In the email to the media and municipal officials, she cited an ongoing legal battle with resident Timothy Harrington in her decision. “Tim Harrington continues to find new ways to get hateful messages to me and apparently the sheriff’s department and the court system don’t have the same definition of indirect contact as I do. As much as I’d like to continue for as long as townspeople would have me, I have to protect my health and the stress of these past four-plus months of harassment and threats is taking quite a toll on me,” she wrote. “I have always viewed us all as residents serving residents, and not politicians. The chilling effect of people being allowed to continue bullying is resulting in yet another vacancy in small town government. I fear it will prevent others from stepping up to serve.”

This summer, Murray began responding to Freedom of Access Act requests from Harrington. What started as requests for public documents resulted in a legal matter. Murray and resident Alan Whitman sought a yearlong protection order against Harrington.

On Aug. 17, Harrington sent his first Maine Freedom of Access Act request to Edgecomb officials. On Aug. 22, he sent his fourth. He believed town officials were taking too long to deliver the information. According to Murray, who handled all the FOAA requests, they totalled over three dozen and other unrelated correspondence numbered in the “hundreds.”

In October, Harrington described himself as a “victim” of municipal harassment. His complaints included a large boulder placed on what was formerly called “Old County Road,” blocking access to his property. Another involved a claim regarding negligence and trespass against a local business. Harrington claims 30 S.R. Griffin & Sons trucks violated a no trespassing sign, and drove over his property, killing a tree’s root structure. 

Harrington also believes his application for building a pole barn on Merry Island Road was unnecessarily delayed and he sought access to all 2022 building applications. On Nov. 2, Wiscasset District Court Judge John Martin ruled both Murray and Whitman had met the burden of proof in seeking a protection order against Harrington. Both Murray and Whitman presented evidence showing Harrington had harassed them through a series of emails regarding a property dispute, in Whitman’s case, and Freedom of Access Act requests and unrelated emails, in Murray’s case. Both provided evidence showing Harrington sent numerous emails with an ominous tone and bizarre stories having nothing to do with the dispute. 

“It is evident that the plaintiffs have met the burden of at least three incidents of threatening which the law requires, and I find in their favor,” Martin said. The protection order runs until Nov. 2, 2023 which prohibits from Harrington from contacting both plaintiffs either in person, by phone, on social media, or via email. But the order doesn’t prevent Harrington from doing business with the town of Edgecomb. After the hearing, Harrington received the building applications from the court.

Murray is the current select board chairman. She previously served on the Edgecomb School Committee. Murray won a special election in 2020 to succeed Jack Sarmanian who resigned due to health reasons. Murray is an Arlington, Texas native. She moved to Edgecomb after retiring from a 35-year military career in the U.S. Marines and Coast Guard. She and her husband Ray Murray both retired and moved their family to Edgecomb from Virginia.

Murray said she would submit her resignation during the Tuesday, Dec. 27 selectmen’s meeting at 6 p.m. in the town office.