HALLOWELL — City voters got a glimpse into the positions of candidates for state and local offices during Tuesday’s candidates forum.

The two-hour forum was held on the Zoom online platform due to the coronavirus pandemic. The meeting, which was attended by about 40 people, was moderated by Hallowell attorney Susan Farnsworth.

Contested race candidates in attendance were city mayoral hopefuls Maureen AuCoin and George Lapointe; state Senate District 14 incumbent Shenna Bellows, D-Manchester, and challenger Mark Walker, R-Hallowell; and state House District 84 incumbent Charlotte Warren, D-Hallowell, and challenger Scott Taylor, R-West Gardiner.

Unopposed candidates for city races were also in attendance, including incumbent Ward 2 City Councilor Michael Frett, Ward 4 candidate Berkeley Almand-Hunter and RSU Board of Directors member Chris Myers Asch.

All of the candidates discussed broad issues such as how to manage strain on the next budget year due to the pandemic, climate change and how to best support residents through the pandemic, while local candidates also weighed in on speeding along local roads.

Walker said he would look into the larger increases in the last two years of the state’s budget as places to cut first, and predicted that the worst financial period of the pandemic is yet to come.

“We really have to be frugal and you can be prudent in these times,” he said.

Bellows said that all items of the state’s budget should be subject to scrutiny, but said it was important to not “reverse some of the spending” in the last two years, such as increasing the state’s output of revenue sharing funds and homestead exemptions.

“The increase in Medicaid expansion, while that has been very expensive, but a substantial portion of that reimbursement has come from the federal government,” she said.

Warren also said the state shouldn’t “backslide” on spending, but targeted spending on the county level for jails for cuts. She said that, particularly for issues of substance abuse, incarcerating people may be more costly than other methods of treatment.

Warren also mentioned that the state’s tax base could be on the rise, as she reported that real estate professionals have told her that many people are trying to move their families to Maine because they believe it is safer during the pandemic.

“The more that we can attract people from out of the state to come to Maine, the more we grow our tax base,” she said.

Taylor said tax revenues have been “clobbered” by the pandemic and the state would have to take a “strong look” at how it spends money by sorting out “needs and wants.”

At the local level, Lapointe, who is the chairperson of the City Council’s Finance Committee, said the city made conservative adjustments to expected revenue sharing and excise taxes for the current budget year, which could see the city end the budget year in better shape than expected.

AuCoin said the city did have some “fortunate things” working in its favor going into a difficult budget year. She said the city’s surplus is “very healthy” and that property tax revenues from the nearly fully-developed Steven Commons would start trickling in. Because that money is sheltered for certain projects as part of the city’s TIF district, that money wouldn’t be available to go to school or county budgets.

Frett said the city would have to look to support businesses and attract new businesses during the pandemic, mentioning that updating the city’s infrastructure and repairing the bulkhead at Granite City Park as two potential projects.

Almand-Hunter said that attracting people to Hallowell was going to be important as many companies are allowing employees to work remotely. She said her husband is from central Maine, but the pair moved back to the area after being allowed to leave San Francisco and continue working from home.

Myers Asch said it was a difficult year for the school district, with a number of unanticipated expenses from the pandemic. He said the member municipalities and school district will have to work together in the next budget year.

“We are looking at things we’re going to have to cut,” he said. “The more we work together … I think that’s for the betterment of everyone.”

All of the candidates labelled climate change as an important issue. Bellows said it was evident with the increase of tick-borne illness and brown tail moth exposure. Walker said he would be cautious of using state subsidies on a particular type of energy over another, but the state should help out with climate change when it can.

Warren said the state should be tapping opportunities to build solar arrays and lauded Maine’s youth for pushing legislators on climate issues.

“Let’s stop spending public money on dirty energy sources, full stop,” she said. “I’m so thankful for our youth leading on the issue. Hold our feet to the fire because we need to do something about it.”

Taylor said that he supported alternative energies and opposed taking out dams. He questions how much climate change would affect people in the future, but said it didn’t mean people couldn’t help the issue right now.

AuCoin said that Hallowell could see issues with the city’s stormwater system as storm events change due to a changing climate. She said city code enforcement often receives complaints about the city’s “antiquated” storm water system.

Lapointe said the city is particularly vulnerable to climate change due to its position on the Kennebec River, evidenced by the January 2018 flood that destroyed vehicles. He also said the city should invest in alternative energy.

Frett said the city formed a new committee to discuss the potential for solar in the city, and he was interested to see the group’s conclusions.

On the issue of speeding on city roads, Lapointe said that claims of speeding should be grounded with data using equipment for capturing speed, then city police could perform targeted enforcement in speeding hot spots.

AuCoin said crosswalk projects are being proposed in areas of the city, which could lead to increased pedestrian safety.

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