Five candidates are running for three Wiscasset select board seats on June 12. The Wiscasset Newspaper spoke to each about some of the issues facing the town, and their plans to address them.

Kimberly Andersson served on the budget committee and the Regional School Unit 12 Board. She said she is hopeful the town and schools will work together going forward to help make the schools better, but also to help address taxes. “The select board has worked very hard to bring down taxes. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the schools to do more than they’re doing. There was a $700,000 balance forward from last year, which means that taxpayers gave the school department $700,000 that they ended up not needing. The budgets need to be more closely aligned to what is spent.”

She is not in favor of closing the high school and tuitioning students to other schools, such as Morse High School in Bath or Lincoln Academy. “We have a small school, and that’s great. It means teachers know what and how the kids are really doing, and parents have more of a say in their kids’ education.” As a teacher in Wiscasset schools, Andersson believes the schools should remain intact, saying the cost to close schools is rarely less than is saved.

Andersson said she is hopeful the Maine Department of Transportation project will move forward now that it has been decided and hopeful that public civility will return to the community. “It’s like we tell the kids. Be polite and kind and understanding, and if you can’t do that, don’t say anything.” She said that she would try to model “public decorum” in meetings and hopefully would see people maintaining a civil attitude. “It’s important that everyone realize that despite different ways of dealing with issues, we’re all neighbors and are pulling for the same end goal – a better town.”

To that end, Andersson said she would favor working harder to bring in economic development through venues already in place, including the Chamber of Commerce, and believes selectmen should be “cheerleaders” for economic development. “We should have a select board member at Chamber meetings,” she said. She also believes selectmen should attend other meetings so they know what other committees and commissions are facing. She said she believes Wiscasset is missing a “middle class” and companies like Peregrine could do a lot toward bringing back middle class families to Wiscasset.

She said she would be willing to consider tax increment financing for the Mason Station area, to encourage more middle class jobs and bring more families back to the region.  “It’s worth investing in,” she said. But she acknowledged it is a difficult sell if there isn't buy-in from the community, and she advocates a facilitated forum to help revise the town’s comprehensive plan. “Once people from all walks of life in Wiscasset get together and decide what they really want, we as a select board will have a clear direction,” she said, adding, the last comprehensive plan was done years ago, and since then, things have changed.

Andersson said the town was “missing the boat” by not funding the waterfront and perhaps building a marina that would include a fueling station, pump out station, and chandlery. She also believes the boardwalk between the two piers should be built. “We should take the funds from our investment funds. Rather than spend those on operational expenses like road paving, that money should go toward things that are long term investments for the town.”

She would also like changes to the warrants to explain more clearly what people are voting on. “I have heard that people don’t always understand what a no vote or a yes vote means. I’ve heard it from more than one person. We should be making the vote very clear. For instance, if they vote against the police budget, they should know that it would eliminate the department.”