At least four candidates could be on the ballot for the open mayor’s seat in Westbrook, setting up a competitive race to succeed incumbent Colleen Hilton.
City Clerk Angela Holmes said, “It’s the largest number of mayoral candidates that we’ve had on the ballot at one time” in recent memory.
Michael Shaughnessy, president of the Friends of the Presumpscot River, earned the Democratic Party’s nomination at the local committee’s caucus earlier this month.
The runner-up in that vote was ward 5 Councilor Michael Sanphy, who said he has already submitted his required signatures to the city clerk’s office to add his name to the ballot as an independent.
Two unaffiliated candidates – James Tranchemontagne and Jason Jerrier – have also thrown their hats into the ring. Tranchemontagne owns a restaurant in Westbrook and lost an earlier bid for mayor in 2013. Jerrier is a retired U.S. Army veteran who has lived in Westbrook for 11 years and has not sought public office before.
The Westbrook Republican Committee caucused last month but did not nominate a candidate for mayor.
A fifth candidate, Eric Thistle, took out papers for the mayor’s seat but said Friday he has decided not to run for personal reasons.
Interested residents still have six days to submit their nomination papers for any open office. Holmes said she still needs to validate the signatures on the papers submitted so far to confirm the candidates for the ballot. Party affiliations are not included on the ballot in Westbrook.
In 2013, a change to the city’s charter extended the mayor’s term from two years to three.
Last month, Hilton announced she would not seek a fourth term, citing the increased demands of her job as the president and CEO of VNA Home Health Hospice and Eastern Maine Home Care.
At the Democratic caucus Sept. 6, Hilton endorsed Shaughnessy to be her successor, citing his years of advocacy for the river that runs through Westbrook’s downtown.
“We’ve put a tremendous amount of energy into focusing on the river,” she said. “We have that asset through the middle of our city. … He will be able to carry that torch.”
Shaughnessy, 58, works as an artist and has taught for 30 years in the art department at the University of Southern Maine. He previously served three years on the Windham Town Council, and recently he moved into the home on Conant Street once inhabited by late Westbrook icon Ellie Saunders.
Shaughnessy said he wants to continue to enhance the downtown riverfront, as well as explore a switch to form-based codes to address residents’ concerns about the rapid pace of development in the city.
“I think the feeling is in general that Westbrook is a city on the verge, and it has such potential,” Shaughnessy said. “It needs to keep on the kind of trajectory that it’s on.”
Sanphy, a councilor for ward 5 for the past six years, worked for more than 40 years in the Westbrook police, fire and emergency services departments. He is now retired but volunteers in various community organizations.
Sanphy said he would like to see the city study and possibly adopt impact fees for incoming developers.
“My heart and soul are here,” Sanphy, 69, said. “I know the people. I know the issues.”
As the owner of The Frog and Turtle in downtown Westbrook, Tranchemontagne said he would bring his business experience to the mayor’s seat. He has proposed cutting the top salaries at City Hall by 10 to 15 percent in order to bring the property tax rate down from $18.40 per $1,000 of assessed value to $15.50 per $1,000.
“We just want to bring sensibility back to government,” Tranchemontagne, 42, said.
Because the Westbrook Republican Committee did not nominate its own candidate, Chairwoman Emily Spencer said the group will back Tranchemontagne’s bid instead.
“I think James can play to both sides, and I mean that in a positive way where both sides can find value in his candidacy,” Spencer said. “I think that’s why no Republican has come forward to run against James.”
Retired after serving in the U.S. Army for 21 years, Jerrier said he has the time needed to do the job.
Jerrier first became interested in city government when he complained about plow trucks repeatedly running over the bushes in his yard. He wasn’t satisfied with the service he received at City Hall, and he decided to get involved. An 11-year resident of Westbrook, he, too, is concerned about the city budget and the strain on services that could stem from a current boom in residential development.
“I’ve seen a bunch of things that don’t make sense to me, the overspending. … They’re just spending the taxpayers’ money,” Jerrier, 44, said.
Also on the ballot this fall are one at-large seat on both the city council and the school committee; wards 1, 2 and 5 on the city council; and wards 3 and 4 on the school committee.
To run for mayor or an at-large seat without being nominated by a party, candidates need to submit the signatures of registered voters – between 15 and 25 from each of the city’s five wards.
Those interested in running for a ward seat need to submit between 25 and 50 signatures of registered voters in their constituency. The deadline to do for any open seat so is Sept. 26. The election is Nov. 8.
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