Raymond Robishaw (from left), Harry Moore, and Clifford Miller address the citizens of Lisbon on Tuesday evening at a Meet the Candidates forum. The three men are running for three-year terms for the council. Andree Kehn / Sun Journal
Ahead of the Nov. 2 election, Lisbon hosted a candidates forum on Tuesday at the Town Hall.
Running for three three-year town council seats are Jo-Jean Keller, Heather Curtis, Clifford Miller, Harry Moore, Raymond Robishaw and Lorelei Hilliker. Jason Smith is the only candidate running for a one-year town council seat.
Lisbon School Board candidates seeking two three-year seats are Kimberly Labbe-Poisson, Leonard Lednum and Margaret Galligan-Schmoll.
Marie Hale and Miriam Morgan-Alexander are running for one open spot on the water commission.
Harry Moore, a retired police sergeant, said he decided to run for town council because he wants to continue to be involved in the community.
“I have seen a lot of changes in Lisbon over the years,” said Moore. “After working for more than 40 years in one job and one department, I felt what people have felt over that period, and it makes you a part of it. It’s something that I’ve decided that I want to keep going on a different level, a different scale, but I still want that involvement in my life and in this community.”
Community members asked questions ranging from future plans for the town and infrastructure, to tax rates and top priorities for their term.
“Listening to the feedback from a very passionate and informed community, paying heed to what’s going on in the decision-making process for the Worumbo Mill site, and ensuring that we are fiscally responsible for decisions we make as a council would be my priority for the town,” said council candidate Keller.
Heather Curtis shared a similar opinion. She said her priority would be to get the pulse of what the community is talking about and what is important to people. She said she would like to ensure that the money used or the money coming for the Worumbo Mill site project is used responsibly.
Several council candidates emphasized that one of their top priorities, if elected, would be to ensure the Worumbo Mill site is put to good use.
Leonard Lednum, who is running for the school board, said building communication with the community members would be his top priority as a school board member.
“This year, when schools started, we did not have bus schedules. The start date of the school wasn’t officially communicated until a week before,” said Lednum. “We’re trying to attract parents and young families to our community. If our school district is not meeting that same goal, and those same ideas of broadening communication and being welcoming, we are failing, let us bring everyone back into the room and build that trust and communication.”
When one of the audience members asked what his 10-year plan for the school district would be, Lednum said he wanted to make one-to-one technology a priority for students.
“Laptop, iPads, and computers — these are the things that every other kid in the world has access. We need to think about where the world is going tomorrow and make sure that those ideas are in our plans,” said Lednum.
Other questions were asked about the growing community and how the contesting members will be involved in the decision-making process during the first few months, what they thought about taxes, and how they would help solve tax issues for people with fixed income.
Video of the full candidates forum is available on the town website, lisbonme.org.
The election will be held on Nov.2 at Lisbon High School gymnasium from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Absentee ballots are available at the town office.
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