When Mary Trescot had plans to run for county commissioner in 2008,she found out too late when to file her paperwork.

This year, the paperwork was in on time, and Trescot, D-Damariscotta, ready to face incumbent county commissioner Sheridan Bond, R-Jefferson, in the November 6 election.

The executive director of Youth Promise is running for the District 3 county commissioner's seat which covers the towns of Alna, Damariscotta, Dresden, Hibberts Gore, Jefferson, Newcastle, Somerville and Whitefield.

“I have experience; I've served on Damariscotta's selectboard,” she said. “I have business experience. My business is a non-profit, but I know the cost of doing business.

“I have the skills to be a county commissioner.”

Trescot previously worked as the Youth Aide Bureau's director.

“I worked for the county for 22 years,” she said. “I've continued to work with the Sheriff's Office for the last 10 years through my organization.”

Not unlike the rest of the country, Lincoln County faces a number of healthcare issues moving forward, Trescot said, adding that her experience could help her if elected.

“We live in the oldest county in the oldest state and there are going to be lots of things that will affect us,” she said. “I would like to see a community health outreach in the county.”

Trescot said one of her main goals as county commissioner would be to increase communication between the different communities in Lincoln County.

Part of that would be a community health task force that would reach out to the 19 towns and utilize some of the infrastructure already in place, Trescot said.

“I would like to see the communities come together and form a task force,” she said. “All of the towns already have a public health officer and some towns are lucky enough to have a doctor in place.”

Trescot said that Lincoln County's neighbor to the south, Sagadahoc County, has a county-wide task force that coordinates with all the towns to ensure that the towns are up-to-speed when it comes to public health issues.

“Sagadahoc has a public health commission and I would like to see something similar could happen in Lincoln County,” she said.

In addition to the task force, Trescot said more attention needs to be paid to another health issue.

“One of the biggest problems we face is with drugs and alcohol,” she said. “It doesn't just affect one person or one town or one school – it affects us all.

“There's an enormous cost to our communities, county and state.”

Trescot said that as an alternative to more jail time the county should instead focus on rehabilitation services to try and break a pattern.

“What you see so often is someone will get arrested, go through the program, be clean and sober then two months later they are back (in jail) because they broke their parole,” she said. “When they are in jail, they're not paying taxes; they're not working. We need to make sure that they are keeping jobs, paying taxes and being responsible members of society.”

“It's not easy, but it's possible.”

Trescot said she would also want to see an increase in mental health resources.

“I talked with a (University of New Hampshire) professor who said that between Waldoboro and Bath it was a dust bowl – we're stuck between Brunswick and Rockland,” she said. “(If elected) I would bring this up on a county-level, and lend a hand to try and make changes.”

In addition to health issues, Trescot said she sees the possibility for further communication between the towns. She said she would like to see the towns come together to come to solutions.

Ben Bulkeley can be reached at 633-4620 or bbulkeley@boothbayregister.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BBRegisterBen