Westbrook residents are seeing a rematch of the mayoral race from two years ago. Democrat Jim Violette is challenging Republican incumbent Bruce Chuluda. While we endorsed Violette last time and have not endorsed Chuluda in his previous two bids for mayor, this time our nod goes to Chuluda.
It’s not that we think Violette would make a bad mayor; he wouldn’t. There just doesn’t seem to be a compelling reason to replace Chuluda four years after he took office. At some point, the city will probably want to make a change in leadership, but right now things seem to be going relatively well. The city has a new police chief. New businesses are moving to the downtown. Idexx has penned a deal to stay and expand here. Plans are under way to build a new middle school off Stroudwater Street. Chuluda doesn’t deserve all the credit for these things, but let’s be honest – things have been worse.
When Chuluda has differed with his Democratic colleagues on the city council, as he occasionally does, more often than not we’ve been in agreement with him. He was right, for example, to veto a policy that allowed city employees to run for office. It was a bad policy that could politicize some of the city’s departments and create awkward work environments if some of the employees decide to run for office. (His veto was unfortunately overridden when Councilor Dotty Aube decided to reverse her stance on the issue.)
Chuluda has also tried to get city councilors to approve pay-per-bag trash and curbside recycling programs. Councilors have opposed pay-per-bag trash, arguing that it takes the burden of paying for trash off businesses and shifts it to homeowners. The burden of paying for trash belongs with those who are producing it, and most businesses already pay to dispose of their trash, in addition to paying for it in their taxes. Paying for each bag provides an incentive for recycling, which is good for all of us in the long run.
His support of this program is also an example of Chuluda’s willingness to take stances that could cost him politically when he believes it’s the right thing to do. Something that could hurt him in the election this year is the recent revaluation the city did, which caused property taxes to go up significantly for some homeowners. In interviews with candidates, some Democrats seemed to be trying to turn the revaluation into an election issue by criticizing the way that it was managed, saying it could have been phased in. The reason this hit some taxpayers so hard is that the city waited too long to do it. That wasn’t Chuluda’s fault. He actually proposed doing one in his first term, and councilors rejected it. The reality is that the city did a revaluation because it was the responsible thing to do.
Chuluda isn’t perfect. No candidate is. He’s had some black marks on his administration. One recent one was the resolution to a recent dispute between City Councilor Michael Foley and Human Resources Director Tina Crellin. The city was too quick to give Crellin an $84,000 payout before doing an investigation into complaints against her.
But, for the most part, he’s made some good changes in the city, consolidating departments and eliminating positions where it made sense to save taxpayers money. He’s worked to include residents, even those who might be perceived as political opponents, in the decisions the city makes, and he’s been willing to take stances that could be unpopular. That’s why this year he gets our endorsement. We just hope it’s not the kiss of death that it has been to his two previous opponents.
Ward 1
In the Ward 1 city council race, our endorsement goes to someone who has often been at odds with the mayor – Brendan Rielly, who has always seemed to be an intelligent and positive leader in the city. That’s why we were dismayed that he spent so much of his time in a recent interview for our political profiles criticizing the current administration.
Although we have disagreed politically with some of the stances Rielly has taken, he has a lot to offer the city and the people he represents in Ward 1. An attorney, Rielly understands the law. He’s smart and articulate and uses that to build consensus. He’s an excellent representative for his constituents, and he seems to work hard to be responsive to them. Rielly also has a lot of experience as a city councilor that would serve his constituents well.
His opponent Dennis Welch is relatively inexperienced in city affairs at this point. Welch’s decision to get involved in his community is a commendable one, but until he has more experience on city committees or boards and a better familiarity with issues facing the city, Rielly will be a better representative for residents in Ward 1.
Ward 2
In the Ward 2 city council race, our endorsement goes to Drew Gattine. Even though we have backed Gattine in his previous two campaigns, this wasn’t an easy decision, primarily because he’s facing such a strong opponent this time around. As the director of emergency communication for the county, Bill Holmes has a strong background in public safety, and he also seemed to have a thoughtful approach to issues.
However, our nod goes to Gattine, because after two terms he could be more effective than ever as a councilor in this term. During his interview for his candidate profile, he talked about fiscal transparency for the city. He wants to get regular reports on the budget – what’s been spent versus what’s been budgeted – and tighten controls on the administration that would force them to bring large expenditures to the council for approval. He cited the $84,000 payout to Human Resources Director Tina Crellin and a $14,000 payment to a law firm that worked as a subcontractor for the city’s law firm at twice the hourly rate of the city’s contract as examples of practices he would like to end.
Gattine said this may be his last term as a city councilor. If he steps down in two years or is defeated this year, Bill Holmes would be a good replacement, but until then, he continues to get our support.
For endorsements in the Westbrook city clerk’s race, the at-large city council race and the Gorham town council races, see next week’s American Journal.
Brendan Moran, editor
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