Gardiner’s incumbent mayor, Thomas Harnett, defeated challenger George Trask, a former city councilor, with 1,553 votes to Trask’s 983, according to unofficial results from the city clerk.
Harnett said Wednesday night by phone that he was happy Gardiner voters selected him to move the city forward.
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“I’m looking forward to great things for the city,” he said.
Harnett said he was glad to see a high voter turnout in the city at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Gardiner.
“That was very encouraging to see democracy in action. That was great. The more people that speak, the more we understand,” Harnett said.
The two candidates staked out very different positions from the start: Trask, a retired builder and business owner, often chastised the city for what he called wasteful spending, while Harnett, an assistant attorney general for the state, expressed optimism for the city’s future.
Trask, 60, of Libby Hill Road, focused on the city’s taxes, which are some of the highest in the county. One of his biggest objections to the city budget was the money given to nonprofit organizations such as Gardiner Main Street and Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center.
But Harnett, 59, of Marston Road, said he doesn’t want to see services cut, and said organizations like Gardiner Main Street and Johnson Hall are what will attract more residents to the city. Harnett was more positive about the city’s current state, and said he thinks Gardiner has taken steps forward in recent years by bringing more activity to the downtown — an area he said is a critical asset for growing the city.
The six-way City Council race for three at-large seats saw victories for two newcomers, Jonathan Ault and Maureen Blanchard, and one incumbent, Scott Williams.
Ault received 1,207 votes, Blanchard received 1,009, Williams received 1,031, Richard Rambo received 997, Robert Logan Johnston received 930 and Steve Hunnewell received 827.
Williams, 22, of High Holborn Street, has been a councilor since being elected in 2010 as a senior at Gardiner Area High School. He now is a substitute teacher at the middle and high schools in Gardiner and volunteers at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Gardiner. He said one of his goals is to keep taxes as low as possible, which he said would help the city increase its population.
Ault, 29, is the field manager for an organic farm in Winthrop and previously worked as a mortgage banker and for a suicide hotline. Ault, of Brunswick Avenue, said key to improve the city is increasing its tax base through economic development. He said he thinks the city government should be a facilitator for economic development by creating sound strategies and assisting entrepreneurs and residents located in Gardiner.
Blanchard, 52, of Dresden Avenue, works part time at the Orvis Outlet in Freeport and used to work in the Office of the Maine Attorney General fielding consumer complaints. She blames the city’s declining population on high property taxes and a lack of jobs. She was the most outwardly opposed to the city funding nonprofit organizations, particularly the top three of Johnson Hall Performing Arts Center, Gardiner Main Street and the Boys & Girls Club.
Incumbent Logan Johnston, 62, a farmer on Oaklands Farm Road, has served on the council for the last eight years. His biggest goal was to expand the city’s tax base by strengthening the downtown and by bringing more businesses to the city’s Libby Hill Business Park.
Hunnewell, 53, of Marston Road, served as a representative to the school board between 2005 and 2010, including stints as chairman and vice chairman of the board. Hunnewell, a civil engineer for the Maine Department of Transportation, said the councilors should examine every line item to determine how to save money to prevent taxes from continuing to drive people away from the city.
Rambo, 63, of High Holborn Street, served on City Council between 2003 and 2010 and owns an early child care center in Pennsylvania. Rambo said it’s important for the city to always be managing the costs of its services to make sure taxpayers are getting the most bang for their buck.
Paul Koenig — 621-5663
Twitter: @paul_koenig
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