DIXFIELD — One selectman and two former selectmen are among four people vying for two seats on the board.
The election will be held from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, at the Swasey-Torrey American Legion Post 100, 8 River Lane.
Dana Whittemore is seeking re-election, along with former Selectman Norine Clarke, former board Chairman Scott Belskis and business owner Aaron Jamison. It is Jamison’s first run for the office.
Clarke, who served for two years on the board, has served on the Economic Development Committee and the Finance Committee. She started serving the community in 1963 when she and her late husband, Ralph, moved to Dixfield.
Clarke has been secretary of the board and has recorded meetings, which has kept her up to date on town business for the past three years, she said.
“It’s given me an advantage, so I don’t have to walk into the board cold,” she said.
“I think going into the job knowing what you want to fix is paramount to having an agenda,” Clarke said. “When I served on the board, and whenever I’m involved in things, it’s been my goal to find out what the issues are, what they’re all about, whether it’s necessary, whether or not it’s a good thing, whether it needs to be worked on or ignored, and go from there. I don’t want to have my mind made up before seeing what the choices are.”
She said she’d love to see a woman back on the board.
“I think when you have a woman on the board, it brings some civility,” Clarke said. “We’ve certainly had our issues with things not always being calm. At one point in time, we had three women on the board. I feel like it makes a big difference.”
Jamison served on the Planning Board 10 or 15 years ago, he said, and runs his business, AJ’s Timber Log Yard in Peru.
“When I was younger, I used to go to the Peru meetings all the time,” Jamison said. “As I grew up, it started to interest me more, so I would put my input in. Eventually, I got situated in Dixfield, where I’ve lived for the last six years, and I started going to their meetings more often.”
Jamison said he wants to focus on “any issue but wind (power),” referencing the efforts of the town to approve a Wind Energy Facility Ordinance over the past five years.
“For the last four to six years, all of the selectmen have been putting their efforts toward wind,” Jamison said. “I think it’s a good thing to apply yourself to, but there’s more to the town of Dixfield than wind. I feel that a few selectmen on the board want us to be stuck in the mud, and there’s no need for it. It’s time to move ahead and be progressive. If the town says we want to try something, let’s try it.”
The Police Department is one area Jamison would like to focus attention.
“We were supposed to be going down one officer, but the budget is $30,000 or $40,000 higher,” he said. “I’m concerned about that. I think we need to get away from the same old thing we’ve been doing for the last couple of years and take the next step forward.”
Belskis served on the Board of Selectmen from 2012 to 2015. He said he decided to run again after seeing the policies put in place by the board “in the last year, and seeing the effect they had with the town’s tax reduction.”
“The policies put in place last year by the board I was a part of are helping reduce the tax rate and helping the Public Works Department run more efficiently than it has in some time,” Belskis said. “For the first two years that I was selectman, all we heard was that the departments were bare bones. Last year, I think it showed that if people take a look at the budgets, most of the time, you can find something somewhere to make a difference and help the taxpayers in Dixfield.”
Belskis said the major issue in Dixfield is “making the town more friendly for businesses.”
“It needs to be better for everyone involved, and not just people in certain areas,” he said.
He said he is preparing a petition to bring water and sewer billing back to Dixfield.
“Three years ago, it was decided by the board to sublet billing to Mexico Water and Sewer billing,” Belskis said. “Part of that deal was that it wouldn’t make it harder on the services for the customers. Now, it’s better, but it has people looking in two different places when they have a problem and they have to deal with two offices. Having billing back on site would make it more efficient and help with personnel.”
Whittemore was elected to the board in 2013, and said he “still has more work to do.”
“I was asked by several people back in 2013 to run because they were looking for a new set of eyes,” Whittemore said. “They said the good ol’ boys were doing it the same way they’ve been doing it for 100 years and wanted to see someone else come in with a new view.”
He lamented that the town has spent so much time on trying to approve a Wind Energy Facility Ordinance, since there is “so much more going on that is important to the town.”
Whittemore pointed out that the town was able to save between $50,000 and $60,000 in the Public Works Department, “and this is after people told us that it couldn’t be done.”
If re-elected, Whittemore said he wants to look into having the Public Works Department taking over sewer maintenance after receiving questions about the topic from a resident.
“The Police Department finding a new building is something we’re going to have to address at some point,” he said. “We’ll have to see if the budget will support something like that.”
Whittemore said he wanted people to know that he’s on the board for “more than just wind.”
“I’m also on the sewer board, and the RSU 10 withdrawal committee,” he said. “I’m a numbers guy, and a guy that asks questions, stays involved, and makes sure that everyone gets the answers they need.”
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