PARIS — An incumbent selectman, a former police officer and two Budget Committee members are running for two open seats on the Board of Selectmen. 

Selectman Ryan Lorrain, Harry Sims, Janet Jamison and Michael Risica submitted nomination papers to the Town Office before the April 25 deadline. The election is scheduled for June 10.

Lorrain, 26, was elected to his seat on the board in 2011 and is trying for another three-year term. In an interview Monday, Lorrain said he wants to continue building on the progress the town has made in the past three years. 

“I think things are going on the right path and I’d like to continue that,” Lorrain said. When he was elected to the board, town governance was more acrimonious and residents were less trusting of their elected officials, he said. 

During his term, however, the tone of debate in the town has calmed and selectmen have been able to make progress, especially in hiring a new town manager and reinvigorating the troubled Paris Police Department, Lorrain said.

“I think there’s always room for improvement in town government and I want to be part of that,” he said.

Janet Jamison, a former selectman, current member of the Budget Committee and NPC-TV director and frequent vocal critic of the current board, said she was a “political junkie” who would represent residents who might not otherwise be heard.

Last year, she ran an unsuccessful campaign for a seat on the board, coming in third place behind incumbents Sam Elliot and Robert Wessels. 

“I can be a voice for the people who are too timid or intimidated of speaking publicly, to bring their issues to the board,” Jamison said. 

Jamison has often been a lightning rod for controversy. Last October, selectmen voted not to reappoint her to the Budget Committee, saying her behavior on the committee was disrespectful and inappropriate. 

During the ensuing battle over her appointment, waged mainly at bi-monthly selectmen meetings, Jamison and her supporters accused board members of ousting her from the board because of the often barbed questions she poses about its decisions. 

In a 3-1 vote, the board finally voted to reappoint Jamison to the Budget Committee in late February.

If elected, Jamison said she would make sure the town’s business was conducted transparently, but said she did not carry a grudge against selectmen. 

“I don’t have an ax to grind against this board,” she said. “I just bring different concerns to the table.”

Michael Risica, a Budget Committee and Planning Board member, also ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Board of Selectmen last year, coming in fourth.

He said he has more experience and a better feeling for town governance this time around and thinks he has better chances at winning a seat.

As a pro-business fiscal conservative, Risica said his major concern is the town’s proposed land-use ordinance. Although he agrees with some of the ordinance’s measures, like prohibiting sexually-based businesses, he deeply disagrees with the prospect of making rules on what people can do with their property, he said. 

“I am not in any way in favor of telling somebody what they can do and what they can’t do with their property,” Risica said. “That bothers me, a lot.” 

Tax increases driven by the Oxford Hills School District budget are also a serious concern for Risica and, if elected, would be one of his main focuses, he said.

Harry Sims, a former Paris police officer, served on the force full-time for more than a year before leaving last August. A message left at Sims’ home phone on Monday was not returned.

Other candidates for public office include Raymond Lussier and Matthew Deitrich, who are running unopposed for two open seats on the Paris Utility District Board of Trustees, and George “Buddy” Coffren and Henry Raymond, who are running for two uncontested seats on the Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors.

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