GARDINER — Candidates for mayor and City Council at a forum Tuesday night at City Hall discussed whether the city should remain a service center community

In the mayoral race, Mayor Thomas Harnett, elected two years ago, is facing George Trask, who served on council for six years in the 1990s and 2000s.

Two current councilors, Scott Williams and Robert Logan Johnson, are running against Jonathan Ault, Maureen Blanchard, Steve Hunnewell and Richard Rambo for three open at-large seats. Only Hunnewell was absent from the forum.

The election will be held Nov. 4.

Ault, of Brunswick Avenue, said he believes Gardiner should remain a service center community. Blaming the services for financial troubles in Gardiner is misguided because they’ve been caused by the larger issues of economic stagnation and a dropping population, Ault said.

He said the role of the city government is to engage in public policy that encourages private investment, and increased economic activity is needed to improve its budget.

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“The only way we’re going to do that is make it an attractive place to live,” said Ault, the field manager of an organic farm in Winthrop.

If the city is going to examine cutting services, it’s necessary to be informed and evaluate where efficiencies or improvements can be found, Ault said.

Blanchard, who advocated during budget public hearings this year for keeping taxes flat, said she thinks the city should provide police, fire protection, sewer and the library. She said she doesn’t think the city should be providing money to nonprofit organizations, such as the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Gardiner, Gardiner Main Street and Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center.

“If you say taxes, I’m going to ask why and how much,” said Blanchard, of Dresden Avenue.

She said in order to improve the city, it’s necessary to lower the tax rate.

“I hate to be hard, but we’ve got to do it. If we tighten our belt, prosperity will follow,” she said.

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Johnston, a farmer on Oaklands Farm Road, said he thinks Gardiner should continue being a service center community. The city can expand its the taxable revenue base by enhancing the city’s desirability, Johnston said.

He also said he thinks there has been a tremendous amount of new investment in Gardiner from the private sector.

“If we were to stop that or otherwise retard that activity, I think a lot of our advancement would end. I am a firm believer in maintaining our services because I believe they help attract the new businesses and new families we need,” Johnston said.

Rambo, of High Holborn Street, said he’s in favor of Gardiner remaining a service center but thinks the city should evaluate it on an ongoing basis.

Rambo, who served on council from 2003 to 2010, said taxes are a value proposition, and he thinks people are will chose to live towns or cities with higher taxes if they’re vibrant, growing communities.

“If we cut services, it’s a losing proposition,” Rambo said.

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William, who was first elected to the council in 2010 as a senior at Gardiner Area High School, said he believes Gardiner should remain a service center community.

He said the city should work with surrounding communities to try to find ways to save money.

“I personally value our services throughout the city. Our parks are beautiful. I feel safe in town. I know if there is a fire, it will be put out quickly,” Williams said.

Harnett said nobody on City Council this year enjoyed raising the tax rate, but it was the first time in his time on council when a the city’s portion of the budget caused a tax increase.

One of the ways the city can reduce the tax burden is by increasing the number of new businesses, Harnett said, and the city has seen recent success in the downtown and the city’s Libby Hill Business Park.

“It’s an exciting thing to walk down Water Street on a Saturday or Sunday and see people shopping and see people parked in their cars,” he said

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Harnett also said that a reason for the city’s budget troubles is the reductions in revenue sharing from the state, and he would continue lobbying the state to restore the funding.

This year the city received about $530,000 less than what the state is supposed to provide, acording to City Manager Scott Morelli.

Trask noted that Gardiner has one of the highest tax rates in Kennebec County — second to Waterville in 2012, according to Maine Revenue Service’s most recent estimated full-value tax rates.

He said he would like to see the tax base grow by increasing development on outer Brunswick Avenue, which Trask said should be the new Western Avenue in Augusta.

Trask said the city should remain a service center community, but he thinks there are ways to save the city money. One of those is to leave the Kennebec Regional Development Authority partnership, which 24 central Maine communities joined in 1999 to build FirstPark in Oakland. It receives some revenue back each year, but as of July 2013, the city had lost more than $300,000.

Trask said the law required all communities to hold referendums, but Gardiner approved it with a council vote.

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He said previously he would be in favor of the city going to court to try to get out of the partnership.

In 2008 in a letter to then-City Manager Jeffrey Kobrock provided to the Kennebec Journal by Morelli, the city’s attorney advised the city if there was an error in how the city joined the development authority, it’s unlikely the courts would invalidate the city’s membership. At the minimum, the courts would require the city to continue paying the debt obligations already incurred, the attorney wrote in 2008.

Paul Koenig — 621-5663

pkoenig@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @paul_koenig


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