GRAY — A self-employed consultant making her first legislative run is challenging the incumbent seeking her seventh term in House District 67.
Independent Anne Gass hopes to unseat Republican Sue Austin in the district, which includes Frye Island and parts of Casco, Gray and Raymond.
THE CANDIDATES
SUE AUSTIN
Age: 70
Residence: Gray
Party affiliation: Republican
Family: Married, four children, 12 grandchildren
Occupation: Prior medical secretary/assistant and management assistant
Education: Associate degree from Bliss College
Political/civic experience: Maine Legislature, 12 years; SAD 15 School Board, five terms; Gray Town Council, one term; Gray Town Election Ballot Clerk, eight years; Maine Wildlife Park Advocate, 18 years; Crystal Lake Association; Gray Historical Society; Gov. Angus King appointee to Pineland Conversion Committee; Gray Senior Housing Committee; The Raymond Hawthorne Community Association; Greater Portland Council of Governments, town representative; Friends of the Gray Public Library; Patriot-Crystal Lake Ice Fishing Derby Board; SHE Leads; UMaine Leaders Program; Gray-New Gloucester Optimist, 18 years, Labor Commerce Research and Economic Development Committee, Ethics Committee
Website/social media: Facebook: Sue Austin; Sue.Austin@legislature.maine.gov
ANNE GASS
Age: 59
Residence: Gray
Party affiliation: Independent
Family: Husband, two children
Occupation: Self-employed consultant
Education: Bachelor’s degree in psychology, Reed College, 1982; master’s degree in community planning, University of Maryland, 1988
Political/civic experience: Gray Comprehensive Plan Committee 1990-1991; Gray Zoning Board of Appeals 1993-1996; SAD 15 School Board 2000-2002; SAD 15 volunteer; Gray Community Endowment Board of Directors 2004-2014; Genesis Community Loan Fund 2006-2012; successful conservation effort along Tenny River in Raymond 2010-2014; founder and chair of the Gray Bike-Ped Committee 2012-present
Website/social media: www.annegassfordist67.com/
Gass, 59, said she would like to focus on small business promotion, health care and access to high-speed broadband internet.
Gass would like to pass the Maine Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Maine has ratified the national amendment but not the state amendment in spite of multiple efforts to do so, including in 2017.
To treat opioid addiction in Maine, Gass said physicians should be encouraged to reduce the amount of opioids they prescribe, and cited research showing that alternatives are more effective.
Austin, 70, said she would like to increase the state’s rainy day fund.
She is looking at using THC Breathalyzers – devices that monitor the amount of marijuana a person has consumed – to identify drivers who are under the influence.
Austin said she supports a bill the House passed in April to improve treatment for opioid addiction. That bill died in the Senate but has since been included in an existing measure, she said.
Jane Vaughan can be contacted at 781-3661 ext. 123 or at:
jvaughan@keepmecurrent.com
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