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by Annee Tara
Coastal Journal contributor
 BRUNSWICK -- Although the forum was broadcast over Brunswick TV, about 25 people gathered at Brunswick's new municipal meeting space in Maine Street Station to hear the six candidates for three Town Council seats to be filled at the November 3 election.
The nine-member Council has one representative of each of the Town's seven districts and two at-large representatives. The November elections will fill the seats representing Districts 3 and 4, as well as one of the At-large seats. The forum, moderated by League of Women Voters' Melinda Caterine, provided each candidate equal time to answer five questions posed by members of the audience. In general, all of the candidates expressed optimism about Brunswick's future, even in the face of the impending shutdown of Naval Air Station Brunswick (NASB).
To the extent major distinctions surfaced, it was perhaps in style and general approach. The contest in District 3 pits incumbent Hallie Daughtry in a rematch against Suzan Wilson; the two ran against each other three years ago when Daughtry garnered nearly 55 percent of the vote. While Daughtry touted “experience and proven ability,” Wilson advocated “new blood” and a new way of decision-making that is collaborative.
District 4 is the district just north of District 3 (A map of the Town Council districts is on the Town website: www.brunswickme.org.) That seat is being vacated by Karen Klatt, who is running against Joanne King for one of the At-large seats. The two candidates are Jason Bergquist, manufacturing manager of a company in Lisbon Falls and current Planning Board member, and John Perreault, owner of Perreault & Daughters Construction, Inc. Bergquist has been campaigning “door-to-door” and says, “you can't forget who you represent.” Perreault is a Brunswick native who says he “will work hard to make the right decisions.” He got the biggest laugh of the evening when he thanked his wife, School Board member Corinne Perreault, for “putting up with him through this [campaign] process.”
The At-large contest is between incumbent King and Klatt, In her opening statement, King said that the Town, especially with the Base closure at hand, “needs thoughtful steady leadership” and has cited her participation on the Brunswick Local Redevelopment Authority, which developed the reuse plan that is currently in the implementation phase, and her 6 years on the Council (three of them as Chair). Klatt has also served on the Council and is completing her first term as District 4 Councilor. She encouraged people to “ask questions, be concerned, get involved.”
After opening statements, Caterine asked each candidate “what is the most pressing problem facing Brunswick and how would you solve it?” All six named the Base closure first on their lists of concerns; all said they thought that there would be a “downtime” but that there is an opportunity for Brunswick to rebuild with new businesses bringing new, high quality jobs to town. Suzan Wilson, District 3 candidate, added that it's important to “stay positive.” Both she and Klatt said it was important to make the “right” decisions rather than acting too fast.
The next question was “How would you advise voters to act on Question 2,” the state ballot question that would alter the excise tax on automobiles. While all of the candidates said they wouldn't try to tell people how to vote, each said their vote would be “No.” Daughtry said that the measure is “regressive, because it only applies to newer vehicles and hybrids.” She said that it would result in a loss of $2.5 to $3 million dollars - or 4percent of the town budget, “which would either be shifted to the property tax or result in reduced services.”
Another question was “are you in favor of keeping the [town] budget flat? If not, how much of an increase would you support? If so, what [expenditures] would you cut or reduce?” Perreault said that while he hadn't been through the budget exercise as a Councilor, “we probably can't keep it flat” but that he would keep any increase to less than 5 percent. He said “it's hard to cut because of contracts; but we may have to cut some.” Jason Bergquist, who is also running for the District 4 seat said that he is “committed to keeping the budget flat, and offered to waive his Councilor's salary ($1000 a year), if he were elected.
Another question dealt with Maine Street Station, ironically the very place in which forum was held: “how long will it take to recoup the investment the Town has made in [the project].” The candidates expressed some divergence on the value of the project. On the one hand, Klatt said “I think it's going to take many, many years.” King, on the other hand, said, “we've done this correctly; we've cleaned up the site; we're investing in downtown; and the expansion of rail service.” Daughtry said “we need to clarify what the public investment is: the land, remediation of the coal ash at the site, and infrastructure, specifically construction of a new street, Station Avenue. The money will come back through, perhaps through a Tax Increment Finance; she also said the town has received nearly a million dollars in grants to help with the project. And then she said, “we're already recouping,” citing the $200,000 the Town was paying annually to keep the former High School open so it could be used for meeting space and comparing it to the $10,000 a year it will pay at Maine Street Station.
Two other questions drew responses that the answers were essentially out of the Council's control. One was “Propose a solution to the housing glut caused by the Base closure.” As King said “we don't have a role in military housing.” Daughtry agreed that “we'll have to work closely with the new owner of the military housing and MRRA (the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority) to achieve our vision.
The other was how, as Councilors, each would vote on whether to allow an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flight Test Center, or “Drones,” at the redeveloped NASB. All agreed that this was hypothetical and an unlikely scenario. King noted that it would be an “aviation use,” which is permitted under current zoning, but that it's a decision for MRRA and “MRRA knows it wouldn't be popular.”
The forum closed with League of Women Voters member Michelle Small reminding people to vote on November 3 and to go to the League website; www.LWVMe.org for a list of all seven state ballot questions. For information about voting in Brunswick, please visit the Town website at www.brunswickme.org and click on “Elections.”
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