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BRUNSWICK — Expanding the coastal
protection zone, controlling development, building a new fire
station and preserving open space are the major issues in the
Town Council election.
Seven candidates are running in three
contested races for seats on the board.
Two other candidates are vying for a seat
on the School Board.
Four other council and school races are
uncontested.
In the District 2 council race,
Jacqueline Sartoris, a state planner, is competing against
retired postmaster Roger Thibeault. The seat is being vacated
by Eleanor Swanson who is running for
councilor-at-large.
In District 5, employment consultant
Thomas Crimmins, insurance appraiser Nelson Moody and lawyer
Charles Priest are running for Clement Wilson's seat. Wilson
is retiring after three terms.
Two veteran town council members –
Swanson and incumbent Stephen McCausland – are competing for
an at-large seat.
District 7 incumbent Forrest Lowe is
running unopposed.
For the Brunswick School Board, William
Dana faces incumbent James Grant in District 5.
Running unopposed are Eileen Murphy in
District 3, Corrine A. Perreault in District 4, and Rebecca
Shepherd, at-large.
TOWN COUNCIL DISTRICT 2
JACQUELINE A. SARTORIS
Age: 36
Home: 14 Bowdoin St.,
Brunswick
Personal: Married, two
children
Education: Bachelor's degree,
University of Pennsylvania
Occupation: Part-time senior
planner at the State Planning Office
Political experience:
None
On the issues: Sartoris said she
would provide a voice for balance on the Town Council. In
1995, she won a national award for helping environmental and
economic interests achieve consensus in forging new state
wetland laws.
"I care about Brunswick's future, and I
feel I have some experience to offer," she said. "Give and
take is important. I would carefully explain my position on
every vote so people know where I stand."
Sartoris supports a second industrial
park in town, but not so-called "big box" retail stores
because of their potential impact on traffic and downtown
merchants. She said she would support development that
maintains the character of the community and the
environment.
"It's locally owned businesses that
contributed so generously to our new library and high school,"
she said. "You wouldn't see that with a super
center."
ROGER J. THIBEAULT
Age: 64
Home: 411 Mere Point
Road
Personal: Widower, two
children
Education: Brunswick High School,
college management courses
Occupation: Retired postmaster
Political experience: St. John's
School Board, 1968-72; former president of St. John's School
Guild
On the issues: Thibeault is not in
favor of adding more land to the existing coastal protection
zone. "Every report has Brunswick leading the way in cleaning
up Casco Bay," he said.
He is a fiscal conservative, and would
work to keep taxes and the size of local government in
check.
Thibeault would not approve any ordinance
that requires hiring someone to oversee it, for example, and
would favor keeping the town's share of the school budget at
60 percent, with a provision that future increases don't
exceed the rate of inflation.
Depending on traffic studies of the area,
Thibeault would support a proposal to build a
retail-business-hotel development at Fox Run, on outer
Pleasant Street, for the tax benefits.
He believes the town office should remain
downtown.
TOWN COUNCIL DISTRICT 5
THOMAS E. CRIMMINS
Age: 54
Home: 157 Jordan Ave.
Personal: Married, four
children
Education: Bachelor's degree, New
Hampshire College
Occupation: Vocational
consultant
Political experience: Brunswick
Town Council, 1990-92
On the issues: For Crimmins,
building a new downtown fire station takes priority over
building a municipal parking garage.
"Public safety comes first," he said. The
current station was built in 1919, when firetrucks were pulled
by horses, and doesn't have enough room to comfortably fit
large modern fire trucks. Nor is it handicapped accessible.
Crimmins considers the existing coastal
protection zone too restrictive, and wants the Town Council to
revisit the issue.
He is concerned that Brunswick's recent
revaluation has raised the baseline for property taxes, and
would watch spending carefully, he said.
NELSON E. MOODY
Age: 48
Home: 90 Jordan Ave.
Personal: Married, five
children
Education: Brunswick High
School
Occupation: Insurance appraiser
Political experience: None
On the issues: Moody wants to move
the Brunswick Recreation Department and 55 Plus Center into
the old high school on McKeen Street.
The building, soon to be vacated by
Topsham middle school students, has two gyms, athletic fields
and is next to the town's skateboard park.
Moody supports building two fire
substations at Cook's Corner and outer Pleasant Street, and
converting the downtown station to administrative offices, a
rescue unit and a fire museum.
The town would pay for it by creating a
better business climate that would broaden the tax
base.
"Village Candle should never have moved
out of town," he said. "We should have created space for it
here. . . . We need to be more willing to sit down and work
with businesses."
Moody said Cook's Corner needs
improvements.
"The Town Council lets businesses do
anything they want there," he said. "Acres of asphalt and no
landscaping; I've never seen such a mess in my
life."
CHARLES R. PRIEST
Age: 54
Home: 9 Bowker St.
Personal: Married, two
children
Education: Law degree, University
of Maine
Occupation: Lawyer
Political experience: Maine House
of Representatives, 1984-1990; Brunswick Town Council,
1992-93; chairman of Cable TV Committee since 1997
On the issues: Priest is concerned
about Cook's Corner. He wants it be more pedestrian and
bicycle-friendly.
He would only support a major retailer if
it were designed as a village center rather than a big box,
and if it were proven that the store would not hurt the
downtown.
Priest favors extending the Androscoggin
River Bike Path to Bath and Freeport, and the Bowdoin College
path to Maquoit Bay.
Priest also wants the town to build more
elderly housing. He said he would improve the sidewalks in
District 5, which residents say are in poor condition. He is a
fiscal conservative.
TOWN COUNCIL AT-LARGE
STEPHEN M. McCAUSLAND
Age: 48
Home: 48 Pleasant St.
Personal: Married, one
child
Education: Brunswick High School,
attended the University of Southern Maine
Occupation: Spokesman for state
Department of Public Safety
Political experience: 16 years on
the Brunswick Town Council; co-chairman of the
Brunswick-Topsham Bypass Committee
On the issues: McCausland said he
is proud of what the council has accomplished since he's been
a member. Among his recent achievements, he says, are land
acquisitions for the walking path between Bowdoin College and
Maquoit Bay, the Androscoggin River Bike Path, more town
property along the river above Mill Street, and the expansion
of Sawyer Park.
He supports moving the town office,
school offices, parks and recreation, police and 55 Plus
Center to the old high school. Big-box retail, a fire
substation at Cook's Corner and finding land for a second
industrial business park are other issues on his agenda.
McCausland opposed expanding the coastal
protection zone because imposing 4-acre house lot restrictions
over a large area of Brunswick would increase already high
housing costs.
He believes the Fox Run retail proposal
is dead. "I don't see it getting through the council," he
said. But he would consider the possibility of a second
industrial park at the site.
ELEANOR SWANSON
Home: 808 Mere Point
Road
Personal: Married, five
children
Education: Bachelor's degree,
Colby College
Occupation: Homemaker, volunteer
Political experience: Brunswick
Town Council, 1992-present; chairman of the Bays Committee;
Marine Resources Committee.
On the issues: Swanson is risking
her District 2 seat to challenge McCausland.
She made that decision after the council
voted 5-4 against creating a second coastal protection zone,
which she strongly favored.
"I'm challenging Steve because it's very
clear to me that on important issues we've been voting
differently," she said.
Swanson wants Brunswick to practice
"smart growth," starting with a clear definition of rural and
urban areas.
She would oppose extending water and
sewer lines to rural areas to discourage development, and
wants mandatory clustering of houses in developments,
surrounded by open space.
Swanson would push to have the Cook's
Corner Master Plan implemented as soon as possible, and she
would work to create a second industrial park.
She would work to fix the dangerous
S-curve on River Road, where many accidents have
occurred.
SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 5
WILLIAM J. DANA
Age: 49
Home: 18 Bowker St.
Personal: Married, two
children
Education: Bachelor's degree,
University of New Hampshire; education courses, University of
Maine at Augusta
Occupation: Builder
Political experience:
None
On the issues: Dana likes the job
the Brunswick School Department is doing, and wants to work
with the board to address any issues in the way of providing
the kind of education parents want for their kids.
"We need to have more people on the
school board committed to the children we're educating," he
said.
He wants to give teachers better wages,
and administrators more autonomy.
Brunswick has a large number of transient
students, due to the presence of the Brunswick Naval Air
Station. Dana wants to give teachers the equipment to diagnose
any special needs the children might have, such as providing
tutors if they are months behind Brunswick's kids.
Dana is concerned about overcrowding and
not enough teachers.
"Education should be our highest
priority," he said. "Any money we invest is well
spent."
JAMES S. GRANT
Age: 34
Home: 155 Jordan Ave.
Personal: Single
Education: Bachelor's degree,
University of Maine at Farmington
Occupation: Technical coordinator,
Freeport schools; owns a computer company in
Brunswick
Political experience: Brunswick
School Board, 1992-present
On the issues: Grant is running
for re-election because the school system is facing momentous
decisions, and he has eight years of experience on the
board.
"It's a very new board," he said. "They
need someone with a history of the issues."
The board has been holding workshops on
space needs for the elementary schools, which involves a
review of bus routes, redistricting, programming, curriculum,
teacher requirements and the distribution of funds.
Grant calls it the most comprehensive,
complex, interesting and time-consuming group of issues the
board has ever had to deal with.
"Redistricting and bus routes alone are
going to be a major job," he said. "This is the first time
that everything the school department does is on the table. I
believe the school board needs someone with an institutional
memory to understand what we've done."
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