OAKLAND — Incumbent Michael Perkins and budget committee member Harold Buzzell Jr. were both elected to three-year seats in the Town Council in elections Tuesday, according to unofficial election results.
Perkins, 55, who has served on the council for nine years and as chairman for eight, won the majority of votes with 2,508, while Buzzell, 61, who has served on the town’s Budget and Advisory Committee for eight years, came in second with 1,306 votes.
The two beat Molly Bofia, Jeremy Lizzotte and Eric Sharpe for the two seats. They received 806, 476 and 370 votes, respectively.
Perkins, who owns KMD Driving School, was also elected as a Republican to the Legislature to represent House District 77, which includes Sidney and parts of Oakland. He ran against Alan Tibbetts, of Sidney.
On Wednesday, Perkins said he thought all of his opponents worked hard during the race. “The voters have chosen and now it’s time to continue on and get back to work,” he said.
Both Perkins and Buzzell said in previous interviews that they want to keep the tax rates in town down.
Perkins hopes to keep the town cost-effective so it can maintain its low tax rates, he said.
“I believe we’ve done very well at keeping the taxes down,” he said in a previous interview.
On Wednesday, Buzzell also said he was happy with everyone he ran against, as well as the results of the election.
“It was a good, clean contest, not like in some parts of the state, and there was no mud-slinging,” he said. “I was happy with the result.”
Buzzell has experience balancing budgets both for the town and in his work managing Hammond Lumber stores, where he is now special sales coordinator. He said he hopes to keep taxes low and lure new businesses to help the town continue growing.
Buzzell also wants to continue working to update the municipal buildings in town, he said.
“A new fire station is needed and a new Town Office is needed, and in my mind they’re both very important to the development of the town of Oakland,” he said in a previous interview.
Madeline St. Amour — 861-9239
mstamour@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @madelinestamour
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