UNITY — Four people are seeking a selectman’s seat that opened when Jim Kenney resigned in March after the annual Town Meeting.

Kenney quit after voters at the meeting rejected selectmen’s two options for building a town office, instead opting to form a committee to further study the issue.

Jean Bourg, Mark Nickerson, Matt Picard and Chris Rossignol are competing to serve the remaining 10 months of Kenney’s three-year term.

Two of the four candidates — Bourg and Rossignol — are on the office committee.

Bourg said she was surprised when selectmen proposed an new town office without getting input from more townspeople.

She disagrees with those who suggest the town office should include a police substation. “I’d like to keep the town office as simple as possible for as long as possible, perhaps forever,” she said.

Nickerson said the town should not take on additional debt to build a new office.

He said selectmen should negotiate a fair lease price in Clifford Common, or another convenient spot, and start saving to buy a new town office.

Picard said he preferred the town sign a long-term lease for office space, rather than own property, which reduces the tax base.

“If we have to own, we should keep it simple and basic,” he said. “People are tired of paying big bills and we need to live within our means.”

Rossignol, an alternate on the Town Office Committee, said he’d prefer the town sign a short-term lease for office space while the committee examines long-term options. He said it’s important that any new building allow for future expansion.

Each candidate collected a minimum of 26 signatures to appear on the June 12 ballot.

Jean Bourg

Bourg, 66, said she’d use her writing and technology skills to enhance government transparency and keep open lines of communication between townspeople and officials.

She retired from a career in Louisiana as a high school English and computer science teacher and now develops software as well as maintains the town of Unity’s website, www.unityme.org.

Bourg said her property taxes doubled after a 2010 revaluation and that municipal officials must be prudent with taxpayers’ money.

“We need to be realistic about what we spend in these times,” she said.

For several years, Bourg and her partner, Melissa Bastien, ran the Copper Heron Bed & Breakfast.

Mark Nickerson

Nickerson, 57, said his experience from 28 years as a Maine State Police trooper would serve him well as selectman.

“I had to learn very quickly to prioritize, deal with issues head-on and resolve them before they became out of control,” he said. “Common sense almost always prevails.”

Nickerson provides security at the Seeds of Peace summer camp in Maine. He grew up in Vassalboro and has lived in Unity since 1982.

One reason he’s running is to try to stop rising property taxes in Unity.

“I feel that the taxpayer is overburdened with taxes and it is time to control spending and even cut back where necessary,” said Nickerson, whose son Max graduated Sunday from Temple Academy in Waterville.

Matt Picard

The 46-year-old Picard, who grew up on a farm in Unity, said he’d be a good selectman because he loves his hometown and wants it to grow responsibly.

Although he traveled the world as an aircraft mechanic in the U.S. Marines after he graduated from Mount View High School, he knew he wanted to eventually settle in Unity.

Picard’s wife Lucia serves on the Town Office Committee. His adult son Josh lives in Iowa.

Picard works as a mechanic at New England Organics, which is on the site of his grandparents’ former farmstead.

“I don’t have any political or personal agenda,” he said. “I’ll have an open door policy. Selectmen should be approachable.”

Chris Rossignol

Rossignol, 34, said he’s task-oriented and finishes projects that he starts — two traits that would be beneficial if he’s elected selectman.

“I have a strong eye for detail and Iook for problems before they occur,” said Rossignol, who has sons Brayden and Dallton as a stay-at-home dad with his wife, Tammy.

Rossignol said filling out the remainder of Kenney’s term would be a great way to serve the town.

Road repair is an important issue for Rossignol, who owned a small construction company for several years.

“They are in dire need of maintenance and I think I can be creative with the budget that we do have,” he said.

Rossignol grew up in Benton and Winslow and moved to Unity 14 years ago.

Town office in flux

Since October, the town office has been in a wing at Unity Elementary School. The previous 16 years it was at Clifford Common.

In 1995, resident and philanthropist Bert Clifford established a 99-year, $1-a-year lease for Unity to conduct town business in first-floor space of the brick complex.

After Clifford died in 2001, Johnson Property Management bought Clifford Common.

Managers from the Massachusetts-based company said the original lease was not properly filed and they wouldn’t honor it.

That prompted town officials to request temporary space at Unity Elementary School and search for a permanent spot.