A pair of incumbents and a political newcomer are running to fill two openings on the Winthrop Town Council.

Sarah Fuller, who is the council’s co-chairman, and Donald Ellis Jr. are seeking to hold on to their council seats when their terms expire in January. Linda MacDonald is hoping to grab one of those chairs for herself.

Voting for the two positions will take place during the statewide election on Nov. 4.

The three candidates agree that the town’s biggest challenge over the next few years will be balancing residents’ desires for quality service and affordable property taxes. The candidates have their own ideas about how to meet that challenge.

The candidates’ backgrounds and experiences are as diverse as their ideas.

Fuller, 38, is finishing her second three-year term on the council. She serves with various organizations, such as the Kennebec Land Trust, but the Town Council is her first elective position.

Fuller, who is married, has a bachelor’s degree in geography from George Washington University and a master’s degree in public relations from the University of Miami. She runs Fuller Ink, a Winthrop-based public relations and marketing company.

Fuller said the town has struggled to continue to provide services while keeping tax increases in check.

“That continues to be an issue,” she said.

MacDonald, 70, has never held an elective position.

A graduate of Winthrop High School, MacDonald moved in 1963 to take a government job in Washington, D.C. She was a Navy wife for 13 years, during which time she traveled extensively, before moving back to Winthrop in 2000 to be with her mother.

“I decided I need to go to school,” MacDonald said.

Armed with an associate degree she earned while living in Florida, MacDonald began taking classes at the University of Maine at Augusta. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mental health and human services. A licensed social worker, MacDonald, who is not related to former town councilor William MacDonald, continues to work for the state Department of Health and Human Services as a community development specialist.

Ellis, 26, was elected during a special election in January 2013 to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Jennifer Currier. The council is Ellis’ only foray into elective office.

Ellis, who holds a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of Maine at Augusta, works for DHHS. He and his wife are expecting their first child in a few months.

He said the town needs to do a better job of funding reserve accounts for capital improvement projects to help steady the tax rate. Last year’s budget included a 9 percent increase because of capital improvement and vehicles, Ellis said.

“We need to put ourselves in a better position so when we need a vehicle, it’s set aside,” he said. “A lot of what we’ve done in the past is push projects down the road that can’t be pushed anymore.”

MacDonald said she is running for council because she is concerned about senior citizens who are being squeezed by increasing property taxes.

“I really think we need to look at cutting back somewhere,” she said. “I don’t know where we’re going to cut, but something needs to be cut because the people in Winthrop are having a hard time paying their taxes.”

She said the town report indicates there is a total of about $400,000 in unpaid property taxes.

“I’m sure over half of it is not that they don’t want to pay. They can’t,” MacDonald said.

MacDonald, who serves on the Keep Winthrop Warm committee and volunteered at the East Winthrop Baptist Church food pantry, said many seniors will go without before asking for help.

MacDonald said more than half of the roughly $2,000 she pays in property taxes each year goes to the school system. Referencing an audit last year that found irregularities in some school spending accounts, MacDonald said she believes there can be spending cuts in education that would not impact the students’ education.

“I’m 100 percent for the kids, but something we’re doing is not right,” she said. “There’s money going somewhere that we can put back. It doesn’t have to be within the school itself. The kids shouldn’t be the ones to suffer.”

MacDonald said town and school administrators should seek outside grants to help pay for equipment and programs to reduce what must be raised in property taxes.

Ellis shares some of MacDonald’s budget concerns.

“It’s my understanding we’re looking at another possible increase in the property tax rate,” he said.

Winthrop last year passed a $1.5 million bond to make capital improvements. Much of that money will be spent to rehabilitate the town’s worst roads, Ellis said. The town is still faced with a number of necessary improvements in equipment, Ellis said. He also is concerned the town will have to pay interest on the loan, which it would not have to pay if there had been a reserve account.

“That’s always a big item in the budget, those service lines,” Ellis said. “There’s nothing you can do about those.”

Ellis was part of a committee tasked with finding $500,000 in cuts in town government. The committee failed to find excess spending.

“There’s not much waste in town government right now,” he said. “If we want to reduce spending, we have to look at what services we want to cut.”

But Fuller believes it’s vital the town continue to provide those services, such as a quality library, a strong school system and ample recreational activities.

“Things that attract young families and professionals into the region and keep our prosperity going,” Fuller said. That includes protecting the area lakes, which Fuller described as the town’s greatest asset.

Fuller said the state will play a significant role in eliminating the sting to property taxpayers. The state’s effort to curb spending by reducing revenue sharing over the past couple of years has pushed the burden down to municipal governments, Fuller said.

She said the bond passed last year, which can be paid over seven years, will help the town make necessary capital improvements without jolting the budget. The bond can be repaid without increasing taxes because it takes the place of a previous loan that has been repaid.

Fuller, like Ellis, said there is little to trim in town spending without cutting services. That’s because department heads are continually looking for ways to save money, Fuller said.

The town also is exploring whether there are savings to be found in partnering with other communities on equipment and services, Fuller said.

“There could be opportunities there,” she said. “We’re looking at everything.”

Fuller said the ongoing effort to keep spending in check will save the council a lot of heavy lifting when it comes time to prepare a budget, but the Legislature remains a wild card.

“If revenue sharing is the same or increased, we’re probably in good shape,” Fuller said. “If there are further reductions it will create headaches.”

Craig Crosby — 621-5642

ccrosby@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @CraigCrosby4

Copy the Story Link