There's a stark choice in this race: experience, energy, focus, and transparency.
My opponent's big job in life was lobbying for banks.
I'm a public finance professional with ample local volunteer government experience and a degree in public policy.
I admire anyone who puts their name forward to serve the public.
My opponent is 79. I'm 35. The average age of the Kennebec County Commission is 77.
I'm energized and prepared to serve, with bold ideas to make this county work better.
Read my opponent's website and every priority he lists is a state issue: the state budget, state programs, state employees and retirees. It tells voters to bring their concerns “through their legislator.”
Those are decisions the Legislature makes. County commissioners have no say in any of them.
Kennebec County runs the jail, the sheriff's office, the registry of deeds, probate court, and emergency management, and it sets the tax bill your town pays for all of it. His issues page doesn't mention a single one of them.
The jail and the sheriff together are 74% of the county budget. That's the job. That's what I'm running on.
It is hard to tell where my opponent stands on the county. Four years in office and he hasn't shared much. What I know is he's campaigning for a candidate who wants to cut more than half the state budget.
The state helps pay for our jail and our district attorney's office. We'd make up the difference with a higher property tax bill. And the courts would slow down, so people would sit in our jail longer waiting for trial. We pay for that too. That means county taxes would go up and public safety would weaken.
My positions are on this website. When I'm elected, I'll post my decisions and what's coming before the board.