FAIRFIELD — Three candidates are vying for a seat Nov. 3 on the Fairfield Town Council.
After Councilor Courtney Chandler resigned in July due to scheduling conflicts, the Town Council appointed Mark Cooper, 55, to the seat in August.
Cooper is looking to defeat Veronique Carrier and Daniel Kissinger for a three-year term on the council.
“Courtney’s seat was set to expire this year,” Town Manager Michelle Flewelling said in an email Oct. 5. “The Town Council has the authority to appoint an individual to the vacancy until the next municipal election, as per the town charter.”
Flewelling said the original Aug. 6 deadline for applications was extended after none was submitted.
“(The) council further extended until the following meeting,” Flewelling said. “Mark Cooper was appointed on Aug. 26, 2020, from a pool of three applicants.”
Cooper is a world history teacher at Mount View High School in Thorndike, and has served on the Fairfield Budget Committee, the Maine School Administrative District 49 board of directors and as the deputy of elections and election clerk.
Cooper said he is looking to retain his seat on the council because he wants to repay the town for all it has done for him and his family.
“(I) have lived in Fairfield for 25 years,” he said, “and (I) feel it is time to give back to the town that has given our family so much.”
If Cooper is reelected, he said he would focus on solving big issues in Fairfield, including the need for affordable housing, filling empty storefronts on Main Street and bringing in another large employer to create jobs and expand the tax base.
Carrier, 45, said she is running for the council because she wants to effect change, specifically involving taxes and business codes.
“I’m tired of seeing Fairfield with high taxes and high antibusiness code regulations,” she said.
Carrier has served on the Fairfield Budget Committee and as the Fairfield election registrar.
If elected, Carrier said she would look to reduce property taxes and work with other town councilors to “help Fairfield be more business friendly.” Specifically, Carrier said she would evaluate the town’s code enforcement efforts to see how they can be modified to encourage business.
“We sit between two major cities — with major industries like Sappi, New Balance and Colby (Collge), MaineGeneral (Health) — and Fairfield right in the middle,” Carrier said. “We should be booming with small business catering to those towns.”
Kissinger declined to be interviewed for this story.
“I will decline to provide info for the article,” Kissinger wrote in an email Sept. 22. “I have no desire to have my information published.”
Caroline Toto-Lawrence and Bruce Williams are running for a three-year term on the Kennebec Water District board of trustees.
Toto-Lawrence and Williams did not respond to multiple telephone calls or to emails.
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