NEW GLOUCESTER – The four candidates vying for two three-year terms on the New Gloucester Board of Selectmen all agree they want to keep taxes low.
Incumbent Linda Chase, who serves as vice chairwoman of the five- member board, is running for her second full term, having also served an additional 18-month remaining term after a board member died.
“I enjoy it. I think that I do a good job, and we still have challenges in these economic times,” Chase said.
She serves as liaison to the town’s Budget Committee and the Parks and Recreation Committee.
“I think keeping the budget kind of at a zero impact, low enough so people aren’t hit hard, is a priority,” said Chase, a widow with three adult children.
Chase said she believes that expanding Parks and Recreation will give people more choices to partake in activities in the future.
“I believe we, as a board, are working well with all town committees. I believe that multiple committees working together for the common good of New Gloucester is important,” Chase said. “Anytime a group of volunteers work at making the community better, it strengthens the community.”
She sees providing Upper Gloucester with a public water system as a top goal. “I hope the community sees it as a positive to provide something for people who have suffered for a long time.”
Chase has a degree in medical laboratory sciences from the University of Maine in Augusta. She is employed by St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center as a laboratory information systems coordinator.
Former selectmen Nat Berry, retired after 34 years as a game warden, said he doesn’t have a specific agenda in running for a slot.
“I want to be involved and serve the community. I love this community and like the lifestyle we live here in New Gloucester,” Berry said. He and his wife, Chong Ae, raised two daughters who graduated from local schools and went on to professional employment.
“The most important item for the town is getting water to Upper Gloucester Village,” Berry said. “We as a community need to get it on a warrant.”
“I also want to try to maintain our quality of life without raising taxes. I will question spending practices for costly purchases.”
He currently serves on the town’s Public Safety Committee. As a former selectman, he served as a liaison to Pineland Center, Public Safety, Community Fair and the Budget committees.
Newcomer Sean Chayer is a professional chef at Mercy Hospital in Portland. He is the next to youngest of 11 children and has lived in New Gloucester for 6 years with his wife, Joann.
“I would like to bring transparency to our town government. I think the information from the town manager and selectmen is hard to figure out what they’re telling us. I want to hold the town manager accountable.”
Keeping taxes low is a prime goal for Chayer. Chayer has been a member of the town’s Budget Committee and served on the Fire Station Committee that worked on the plan for the new fire station on Route 100.
Another newcomer who wants to keep taxes low is Jean Couturier. He is a self-employed accountant working with his wife, Sherryl.
“I am running to keep property tax as low as you can. It is not prudent to spend our undesignated fund balance as we have used it in the past. This fund is tricky. At times the money in there is a pass-through account,” Couturier said.
Next year the town will use $660,000 from the undesignated fund to pay for paving at $500,000, roads at $50,000 and $10,000 for Parks and Recreation.
“Property tax is the biggest issue for me,” Couturier said. “I see the Route 26 corridor in New Gloucester as important to plan development with the opening of the casino in Oxford.”
Couturier thinks some local funding for projects can be accomplished by private fundraising activities, such as, for example, playground equipment.
“I’d like to see ways of attracting other people on committees. And I want to see reports on committee activities. It’s really restrictive, the way things are done in this town,” said Couturier, who has lived here for the past 15 years.
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