PARIS — The town will hold a Meet the Candidates night Thursday for five people running for the Board of Selectmen.

The candidates will answer questions submitted by Paris residents. The forum is set for 7 p.m. May 31 at the Town Office.

The event will be moderated by Barbara Payne and broadcast on Norway-Paris Community TV.

Alicia Cushman, Gerald Kilgore and Robert Wessels are seeking to replace Jean Smart, who is not seeking re-election.

Sam Elliot and James Hakala are running for the position held by Kenneth West who resigned in April.

Cushman, a lifelong resident of Paris, works with her husband at Cushman’s Garage in Oxford.

Kilgore served 15 years on the Board of Selectmen from 1994-2009. He owns a private contracting company and is one of several who owns land in the gravel pits at the end of Gravel Pit Road.

Wessels has lived in the area since 2003 and has worked his way up as a manager at Walmart before becoming the store manager for US Cellular stores in Paris and North Conway, N.H.

Elliot, who has lived in Paris for 35 years, is a former Army officer who works as a wastewater technician.

Hakala moved to Paris about eight years ago, and recently became active in town government after the board gave the X-Tra Mile ATV Club permission to pass the Hakala’s home on Parsons Road. Hakala has served on the Road Plan Committee and the Planning Board.

treaves@sunjournal.com

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