SKOWHEGAN — Five Skowhegan residents are vying for two open seats on the town’s Board of Selectmen.

Voters in the town will elect two candidates to three-year terms on the five-member board at a municipal election scheduled for Tuesday.

On the ballot are Harold T. Bigelow, Aaron C. Crocker, Newell B. Graf Jr., Amber K. Lambke and Elijah M. Soll.

HAROLD T. BIGELOW

Bigelow, 70, is the only incumbent up for reelection who is running for another term on the board. Chairman Todd Smith is not on the ballot.

Bigelow, who served previously for two terms on the Maine School Administrative District 54 board of directors, said he wants to serve again because he loves Skowhegan. Bigelow, now retired after working 35 years for Brookfield Renewable in Skowhegan, was born and brought up in the town and raised two children there.

A top priority for Bigelow is limiting the impact of rising taxes on residents, he said. Bigelow also said he is concerned about some economic development projects in the town, such as the planned River Park.

“Skowhegan is not ready for it,” said Bigelow at a Tuesday conversation with selectmen candidates hosted at Joe’s Flat Iron Café and moderated by a Morning Sentinel reporter.

Bigelow believes Skowhegan needs more well-paid manufacturing jobs. Other development projects, such as the Spinning Mill redevelopment on the downtown island, have drawn support from the current selectman.

“That is the greatest thing to come to Skowhegan,” Bigelow said. “No. 1, it’s year-round … That is the key to Skowhegan, I feel right now.”

AARON C. CROCKER

Among the four other candidates running against Bigelow is Crocker, 38. For Crocker, who works as a lineman and owns a property management company, the biggest issue in the town right now is a lack of transparency from elected officials.

“We’re passing too many things through executive sessions and the public doesn’t know about it,” Crocker said in an interview. “We’re spending way too much money. It needs to stop. There needs to be accountability. If we keep voting the same people in every time, then it’s never going to change.”

Crocker said he is hoping to bring some “young blood” to the board.

“I kind of took it and ran with it. I was at the town office for some personal business and didn’t like some of the feedback I got, so I decided to put my name in the hat,” he said.

AMBER K. LAMBKE 

Lambke, 49, said her background as a local business owner, former speech-language pathologist, and member of several organizations’ boards across the state lends to her understanding issues from many perspectives.

Lambke, who owns the manufacturer Maine Grains and the restaurant The Miller’s Table in Skowhegan, helped to launch the economic development nonprofit Main Street Skowhegan in the early 2000s, which she said was a challenging experience.

“Those are understandably hard times when you ask for change in a community,” Lambke said at the conversation with candidates. “Change is hard. And we did it. And we’re doing a lot of positive things now.”

A priority for Lambke, who raised two children in the town, is continuing to grow economic opportunities in Skowhegan.

“We are really admired and respected for the hard work that’s happening here and the progress that’s happening here,” Lambke said. “And I hope to make sure that people in Skowhegan feel that success.”

ELIJAH M. SOLL

Soll, 44, said he agrees with Lambke about creating more opportunities for young people in Skowhegan. Soll, who has a 15-year-old son, works as a behavior analyst and owns a business in Skowhegan.

As the owner of several properties in town, Soll said he feels the impact of increases in property taxes. But for Soll, the biggest issue facing Skowhegan is ideological division that he also sees across the country.

“I was challenged in my mind of how can we create progress without being labeled progressive?” Soll said at Tuesday’s event. “I’m sort of looking at it as a challenge.”

Soll, who grew up in Canaan and has lived in Skowhegan for nearly two decades, said he hopes to take a “pragmatic” instead of “dogmatic” approach to developing goals and objectives for Skowhegan.

NEWELL B. GRAF JR.

Graf, a former Skowhegan selectman and Somerset County commissioner, did not respond to requests for an interview via phone calls and emails Thursday and Friday.

ALSO ON THE BALLOT

Most other municipal elections on Tuesday’s ballot, including the race for Maine School Administrative District 54 board of directors, are uncontested.

The only other contested race is for Road Commissioner, which has a three-year term.

Jason I. Finley, who has held the position since 2022, is running for reelection. Casey J. Quimby is challenging Finley.

A ballot question in November to change Road Commissioner from an elected to an appointed position failed.