EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to a production error, this article did not appear in Wednesday’s issue of the Kennebec Journal.

HALLOWELL — While there is a race for mayor of Hallowell, three other elected seats will be filled by candidates who are running unopposed.

Newcomer Berkeley Almand-Hunter is unopposed in her bid for the Ward 4 seat on the City Council.

Diano Circo, currently the Ward 4 councilor, said he is not seeking reelection because of his busy work schedule and a desire to spend more time with family.

“It’s been a privilege to work with a talented and dedicated group of councilors and city staff,” he said. “I know they will continue working hard to keep Hallowell the special place that it is and move it forward.”

Almand-Hunter, a data scientist originally from Atlantic Beach, Florida, moved to Hallowell two years ago. She serves on the newly formed parking committee and is the treasurer of the Hubbard Free Library’s board of trustees.

While she said she supports more city funding for the library, which is currently struggling financially, Almand-Hunter understands budget constraints could mean money going elsewhere.

“Obviously in the long run, I support more library funding,” she said. “That’s probably not going to happen next year.”

Almand-Hunter said her background as a data scientist would be valuable to the council when crunching numbers. When asked about the upcoming budget year and backlogged capital expenditures, she predicted another bond in the city’s future.

“I don’t want to have a huge property tax raise in one year,” Almand-Hunter said.

Circo said he would stay engaged with city issues, ‘including the future of the old fire station, finding suitable homes for the Police Department and Public Works and improving pedestrian access to the city’s green spaces.”

Ward 2 City Councilor Michael Frett, a retired judge and attorney and the former director of the state Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Standards, will also run unopposed for his seat. Frett was appointed to the council in 2016, and currently serves on the Claims, Highway and Property/Public Lands council committees.

Frett, 77, said there were still a number of issues that he wants to work on, including the imminent decision on how to use the Second Street Fire Station and the location of a new headquarters for the city’s police and public works departments.

Frett also said the coming years present an opportunity to reinvent the city, given the new families moving in and the comprehensive plan that is being worked. As an active participant of the city’s All Age-Friendly Community, Frett said that reinvention should also take into account the needs of older citizens.

“We have a large senior citizen population (in Maine),” he said. “Whatever it is we’re doing, I don’t want to lose sight of seniors and how they enjoy the city.”

Also unopposed on November’s ballot, Chris Myers Asch is seeking reelection to his seat on the Regional School Unit 2 board of directors.

Myers Asch, a former elementary and middle school teacher, was elected to the school board in 2017. He said he was seeking reelection because he believes deeply in public education.

“I love being around the students and teachers, and getting to know what’s going on from the insider’s perspective,” Myers Asch said. “I think we have a wonderful staff in RSU 2, and I’m amazed by their dedication and commitment to the students, even during the pandemic.”

He said members of the school staff have taken the first few months of school to fine tune their approaches to remote learning and are more prepared for the fall.

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