LEWISTON — Candidates to fill the open City Council seat in Ward 4 don’t sound too different from each other.
Darcy Reed, a student seeking a law degree at the University of Maine School of Law, said she’d like the city to focus on fixing the downtown’s aging housing units rather then subsidizing new construction.
“Affordable housing has a place in our city, but it needs to be balanced better with fair-market housing,” Reed said. “That’s a problem that we are having right now. We have a lot of low-income housing, but not a lot of fair-market rent apartments.”
Her opponent, business owner Shane Bouchard, has similar opinions.
“We need a certain amount of affordable housing, but I don’t think we should be expanding with any new subsidized projects,” Bouchard said.
Both said they expect an amicable race.
On Nov. 4, Ward 4 voters will select one of the two to replace outgoing Councilor Doreen Christ.
Christ announced last month that she would step down from the position this fall. She was elected to a two-year term in November 2013.
The two candidates gathered enough petitions to guarantee themselves spots on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Bouchard owns Bouchard Enterprises LLC, the umbrella company for Bouchard Lawn Care and Landscaping as well as Maine Home Recreation at 705 Sabattus St.
He said he likes the way the city is run and said he thinks he can help keep it on track.
“I’m at the right point in my life, with my businesses, that it makes sense,” Bouchard said.
Reed graduated from the University of Southern Maine in December and is taking classes, intending to get a law degree and practice criminal law. She ran against Christ last year.
Reed said she began collecting petition signatures before Bouchard announced his plans to run.
“The big reason this time is because I was afraid the seat wasn’t going to be filled,” Reed said. “I was concerned that Ward 4 would not have a city councilor and that’s the reason I am running.”
Neither wants to see property taxes increase. Bouchard said services such as good schools, police, fire and road repairs are worth it.
“I know there are people who say we need to work to make our taxes go lower, but I’m not sure that’s realistic,” Bouchard said. “If we can do it, we should. But I think it’s more realistic to work toward slowing the growth of taxes while preserving those essential services.”
Reed said she’s not in favor of letting taxes increase. She’d hope to trim the budget in places and not replace some employees when they retire.
“I understand that to be able to have services there are expenses, but I hope we can evaluate things more closely and find some cuts that can be made,” Reed said.
Both said they were intrigued by the Lewiston-Auburn Charter Commission and efforts to combine the Twin Cities.
“I need to see what they end up doing,” Bouchard said. “I’m not ready to say that Lewiston should go it alone, but I’m not ready to say we should hold hands and save a bunch of money. I want to see what the financial implications really will be.”
Reed said there may be benefits.
“I need to do more research, but it could be beneficial,” she said. “If we combine, I think we really could be more of a powerhouse.”
Lewiston’s Ward 4 is in the center of the city, bordered by Webster, Farwell and Sabattus streets in the west, Pond Road in the east and Old Greene Road in the north.
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