SKOWHEGAN — The names of 11 candidates will appear the Town Meeting election ballot Tuesday for two open seats on the Board of Selectmen.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. at the Municipal Building on Water Street. There also are five candidates for four open seats on the local school board. Tuesday is also the state primary election.

In balloting for selectman, six candidates are running for a one-year term to fill the seat vacated with the retirement of Selectman Donald Lowe. In the other race, five candidates seek to succeed Selectman Steve Spaulding, whose term of office is up this month. That position is for three years.

SELECTMEN THREE-YEAR TERM

Candidates in the race for one three-year term, on the Board of Selectmen are:

• Derek A. Ellis, 42, park ranger and manager at Lake George Regional Park, said he recently became a member of the town’s Conservation Commission and wants to be more active in town government. He said he is interested in the work being down with grant money for the new parking lot downtown and the possible negotiations with Sappi Fine Paper over taxes at the paper mill.

“I guess if I was going to complain about how things were going, then I should probably be part of it if I deserve the right to complain,” he said. “I’m not big on sideline critics.”

Ellis called himself a forward thinker with no personal agenda, other than what’s best for the town.

• Robert A. Holt, 70, is a school crossing guard for the Police Department and a newspaper carrier. He is running for selectman for the fourth consecutive year. Holt said he wants to get elected to help the people of the town of Skowhegan.

“I’m going to try to get a few things straightened out,” he said. “I’m going to wait until I get down there and see if I can get to be a selectman and maybe I can help out.”

• Michelle L. Cummings, 41, a medical coder at Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan, said she has been on the town Budget Committee for the past year and wants to do more in town government.

“I think positive change is coming to Skowhegan and I want to contribute to that,” she said. “Economic development is growing with things like the Run of River. Everybody is hurting due to taxes and the increased unemployment rate and I want to do what I can.”

She said the current administration in town government and the department heads are doing a good job, cutting their budgets and “working with the bare minimum” and would like to help keep that success going.

• Donald L. Skillings, 45, of owner of Skillings Insurance Agency Inc., is chairman of the Skowhegan Planning Board and a member of the Skowhegan Economic Development Corp. and the Board of Assessment Review. He said the town is going through some good economic changes and hopes to bring his business experience to the Board of Selectmen.

“We’ve had a lot of good growth in good areas and we definitely need to keep that going,” he said. Skillings said one of his major concerns is the proposed tax value question surrounding the Sappi paper mill and what it could potentially do to the town budget.

“That’s one of my driving forces, to use my business acumen to help us steer through that process and the best way to approach that situation,” he said.

• Richard E. Prentiss, 48, is a local building contractor who said his experience running a business for 20 years makes him a good candidate for selectman.

“Skowhegan’s a nice place to live and I’d just like to see it keep going in a good direction — it’s going in a good direction right now,” he said.

SELECTMEN ONE-YEAR TERM

• Siren B. Soren, 44, a physical education instructor at the high school and district head of physical education and health, said he has been on the Planning Board for three years and wants to become more directly involved in decision making in town government.

“Maine itself and Skowhegan has a recreational gold mine — instead of Skowhegan being a place to watch, it would be nice to have a place to watch and do something and get people here and to stop here,” Soren said. He said the proposed Run of River white water park in the Kennebec River Gorge downtown is a good place to start creating jobs and opportunity downtown.

“I’m concerned about how we grow our town,” he said.

• Darla L. Pickett, 69, a long-time Morning Sentinel reporter and Skowhegan bureau chief, said her years covering municipal government for the newspaper and her experience on the Budget and Finance committee and the Economic and Community Development Committee makes her a good candidate for selectman.

“This community has been really good to me and I want to give back,” she said. Pickett also serves on the boards at the public library and Cable Access-TV Channel 11.

“My interest is in keeping things transparent,” she said. “As a journalist, that’s what I believe in.”

• Steve Spaulding, 60, whose three-year term on the board expires this month, said he wants to stay on board for one more year to continue some of the work that has been accomplished in recent years. Spaulding is a military veteran, commander of the Skowhegan American Legion post and a volunteer for many organizations, including Lake George Regional Park. He said his three years on the Board of Selectmen has been good experience.

“There’s a lot going on in town and I wouldn’t mind doing another year to try and help out,” he said. “There’s a lot of good things going on, including the new downtown parking lot and negotiations going on with the paper mill.”

• Jennifer E. Olsen, 49, is the executive director of Waterville Main Street and served for two years as director of Main Street Skowhegan, both nonprofit organizations that promote downtown business and cultural growth. Olsen said she can bring her expertise in local government to the Board of Selectmen.

“I’ve dealt with municipalities from the other side of the table; I think that I have a unique perspective because I work closely with municipalities on a pretty regular basis,” Olsen said. “I’m interested in learning more about what the process is like in decision making and policy making from the body itself.”

She said she would work for small business development in Skowhegan. Promoting the “cool and good things” about the town would be her first order of business.

• Tyler Terstegen, 38, who works in information technology at Redington-Fairview General Hospital Skowhegan, said he wants to test the water of public service with a one-year term on the board before going farther in town government. He said he would help make the town more efficient if he is elected.

“I’d find ways to more efficiently spend taxpayer money to get the most out of the taxpayer dollar and to provide the best level of service for the town,” he said. “I think the town of Skowhegan could benefit from fresh opinions and a fresh voice and somebody with new energy and different ways of looking at things.”

• Thomas L. Batchelder Sr., of Casino Hill Trading Post, is a declared candidate in the race, but declined to be interviewed for this story.

SAD 54 BOARD

In the race for a three-year term on the School Administrative District 54 board of directors there are five candidates for four open seats.

• Mark A. Bedard.

• Jeannie M. Conley.

• Karyn J. Curran (incumbent).

• Margaret A. “Peggy” Lovejoy (incumbent).

• Alfred M. Wilson.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367

[email protected]

Twitter: @Doug_Harlow