Despite the negativity in national ads, refreshingly civil discourse dominated the Boothbay region's Great State Debate, where four local candidates for Maine legislature spoke on issues critical to the state and the region.

All four agreed on a similar theme: Things need to be changed; and it will take efforts from both parties to make those changes.

The four candidates: State Rep. Bruce MacDonald (D-Boothbay), who is running against Stephanie Hawke (R-Boothbay), and current State Rep. Les Fossel (R-Alna) who is running for state senator against Sen. Chris Johnson (D-Somerville) squared off October 10 and discussed everything from tax rates to healthcare to the economy.

Johnson, who recently won a special election for the vacated seat of former State Sen. David Trahan, said the birth of a new grandchild in his family greatly influenced his political perspective. “I want a better future for our children and our grandchildren,” he said. “And that’s what motivates me to serve.”

Johnson said the actions in Augusta in the past 2 years have been fiscally irresponsible by increasing burdens on retirees and businesses.

He said the state legislature “needs to get back to focusing on innovation, infrastructure, education and stabilizing what support we provide for businesses.”

Johnson’s opponent, Fossel, a construction contractor since 1975, emphasized the need to cut costs and strengthen the economy at the community level.

Fossel said that one of his contributions to the legislature includes backing a bill that helped stabilize the state property tax burdens. He said that jobs have to be created that meet the needs of the community. “What I’ve found, is not only do you need stability to create jobs, but you need the sense that there is a future in the place you live.”

MacDonald agreed that stability plays a major factor in business success, but dismissed the notion that we need to be separated into two groups: pro-business or pro-government.

“I don’t think it’s either one or the other,” MacDonald said referring the need for government to provide constancy through proper regulation.

“Businesses depend on a stable, firm and fair banking system…. Regulations that manage our banking system are the kinds of things that provide firmness and predictability in a financial sense that business wants,” MacDonald said.

Local business owner Stephanie Hawke said although the political realm is a relatively new place to her, she is passionate in her beliefs and feels she could bring positive change to the community and statehouse.

Hawke said she thinks higher taxes are holding back Maine businesses, and that lowering taxes and loosening regulations will “let people do their (jobs).” Hawke also said that education should be used to train electricians and carpenters. “There aren’t many around,” she said. “Less regulations on them would help the business climate.”

Most all of the candidates favored lowering healthcare costs. Each candidate offered their own take on the Lincoln County Health Care’s intention to eliminate St. Andrews' emergency room services, and how they would solve the problem.

MacDonald, who has been a part of the ongoing community task force, recognized that MaineHealth, the parent corporation governing St. Andrews, uses a cost efficiency business approach to determine how they can put the most people through their facilities at the lowest cost.

MacDonald said that approach created problems when dealing with smaller hospitals. He also referred to research indicating that smaller, local hospitals not only have lower costs, but better health outcomes for the people.

MacDonald’s plan would give people the choice as to whether they want to create a community hospital district by introducing legislation that would allow voters to elect a public board to govern an independent hospital.

“When I heard that St. Andrews was closing, it broke my heart,” Hawke said. “What would I do as a legislator I don’t know. I would have to talk to people who know a whole lot more than me and go from there.”

Fossel said “The decision making process by Lincoln County Health Care was terrible.” Fossel, a supporter for lowering healthcare costs, also said there were two barriers standing in the way of community hospitals: infrastructure costs and regulations.

“We just went through the certificate of need process, liberalizing it to allow communities like Boothbay to do more things and not get the state’s permission,” Fossel said. The certificate of need process is a healthcare oversight committee that reviews expansion or development undertaken by health facilities within the state.

Last year, Fossel, who served on the health and human services board, introduced a bill that would allow communities to set up health facilities. If a hospital proposal amounted to 5 million dollars or less, they would not need to seek approval by the state.

Fossel explained that most hospital changes and consolidations exceeded far more than 5 million dollars, so the prospect of chartering a community hospital in Boothbay was unrealistic.

“To have a community hospital, you’re going to have to throw the certificate of need process on its ear,” Fossel said. Johnson said he understood Lincoln County Healthcare’s perspective as a good business decision, but not as a good community decision.

Johnson said his goal as a senator would to help further the efforts of the community to retain the hospital in any way he can. He said he supported MacDonald’s idea to allow the community to charter an original hospital.

“If the community makes the decision, that (a community hospital) is something that is feasible, that they want to pursue, then I would support the legislation,” Johnson said.

This year the Great State Debate celebrated its fifth anniversary and was attended by a crowd eager to listen to the candidate’s remarks. U.S. Senate hopeful Angus King wrote a letter to the event’s organizer John VanOrsdell and commended him on steadfast commitment to political discourse and engagement.

King said he would “be there in spirit as the Boothbay area celebrates its civic-mindedness at the beautiful Opera House.”