Three candidates are running for two seats on the Winthrop Town Council, and each has recent experience serving on the council.
Shannon McDonnell, the council chairperson who also serves as Wayne’s town manager, is seeking a second three-year term. McDonnell, a 39-year-old Army veteran, ran as a Republican for the Maine Senate last year and lost by about five points to incumbent Sen. Craig Hickman, a Democrat.
James Steele, 53, the council’s vice chairperson and a lifelong Winthrop resident, is also seeking a second full term, having been initially elected in 2022 to finish the term of the late Rita Moran. Steele’s son, Zachary, was also elected to the council last year. Steele works as the IT manager at MaineGeneral Medical Center.
Bruce Burns seeks to return to the council after he was defeated by an eight-vote margin last year. Burns, 74, has served two prior terms on the council and works for a wholesale flooring distributor in Augusta.
Early voting is open, and election day is Nov. 4. The candidates will participate in a forum Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. at the Bailey Public Library.
The Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel asked candidates about their background and what they hoped to accomplish on the council. Here’s what they said.
These interviews have been edited for brevity and clarity.
SHANNON MCDONNELL
McDonnell responded via email.
Why run for council again?
I really enjoy the opportunity to serve the people of our community and to focus on improving the infrastructure and the different facets of being a councilor.
What do you see as Winthrop’s biggest challenge in the next three years, and what would you do to help solve it?
I believe our biggest challenge in the next three years will be housing affordability. We are currently reviewing policies and considering options to promote planned development districts and encourage the development of senior housing.
All three candidates have served on the council — so why are you more qualified than the other candidates? Why should a Winthrop resident vote for you?
My experience includes serving as the chair of the council for the past two years and navigating complex issues. I also served in multiple leadership positions during my 15 years in the military.
I have a master’s in public administration and currently serve as a town manager in a neighboring community.
At the end of another three-year term, what do you want your legacy in Winthrop to be? What do you hope residents think back and say about Shannon McDonnell?
At the end of my next term, I hope to have inspired community members to be more involved in local government, especially the younger generations. We are focusing on growth and development to support not only our aging community but paving the way for our youth as future residents.
JAMES STEELE
Why run for council again?
We’ve gained a lot of momentum since the start of my first term. I feel like we’ve gained a lot of ground, and I want to continue that. I want that success to continue on for the town.
I’ve found my way to give back a little bit. I’m not a very political person. I’m not a very big public speaker. But I don’t mind asking some of the hard questions, just so we can make sure that the community has what its needs for services, and making sure we keep the tax base fairly low.
What do you see as Winthrop’s biggest challenge in the next three years, and what would you do to help solve it?
Our challenges are to make sure that we can continue to provide the level of service that we have today — it’s very hard in most any of these communities — and also try to maintain our tax base so it doesn’t crush the folks that have been living in the community forever.
My mom, for example — she’s retired, she’s living in her home, and she’s all by herself now. But we wouldn’t want to try to tax her out of her home where she wants to live the rest of her days. There’s a lot of people like that. I’d like to make sure that they can live out in the same community that they raised their families in.
I know we have a revaluation coming up fairly soon, which will change a lot of things for a lot of people. But I’m hoping that, being on the council, we can control the mill rate, as the evaluations go up on people’s homes.
All three candidates have served on the council — so why are you more qualified than the other candidates? Why should a Winthrop resident vote for you?
I think everybody’s pretty well-qualified. If your heart’s in it, I think you would make a great candidate. For me, I don’t mind asking the questions and being a local kid — I say kid but I’m not a kid anymore — from the community. My dad and mom raised six kids in the town. Most of my family, they all live still in town, and I’ve got nieces and nephews.
My heart’s really in it for the community. I hope that people have seen that. Hopefully my record kind of speaks for itself, that I’m doing what’s best for the community.
At the end of another three-year term, what do you want your legacy in Winthrop to be? What do you hope residents think back and say about James Steele?
I hope people see me as a caring person in one and a person that’s giving back. I raised three kids of my own in the community. One happens to be on the council. I’ve coached and tried to make an impact on the kids that were in the community, and my legacy is as a person that cares and wants to give back and do what’s right for the people. I have no special interests of being on the council other than I’ve enjoyed trying to make a change for the better.
I came in at a time there was a lot of adversity, and hopefully a lot of those things have been tamped down, and people have been able to come to me and talk to me about what they’d like to see for changes or concerns, and that I’ve answered the questions, or at least been a voice for them.
Anything else you want to add about your candidacy?
I would like to have people give me an opportunity to keep the traction of the positive movement on the council. People that know me know that I’m a fair person and an open person. I will take what’s needed for the town, in the best interest of the town, and move it forward. I would be honored to have their vote.
BRUCE BURNS
Why run for council again?
First of all, I think the Town Council has made a grievous error in allowing the school district a 9.3% increase in their budget, when last year they were at 4.9%, and they seemed to go OK. But with dwindling enrollment, lack of services, it’s all going to salaries and maintenance — mostly salaries.
I don’t think that that’s right. I don’t think the taxpayers deserve that. And as an advocate for my constituents in Winthrop, I think that somebody needs to go.
Plus, competition is good. It makes everybody wonder whether they’re doing a good job.
What do you see as Winthrop’s biggest challenge in the next three years, and what would you do to help solve it?
I think that with a budget surplus, we should develop a fund for community tax relief.
We’re going to go through reassessments in 2027. That’s going to be a very peripheral shock to all the taxpayers in Winthrop. You can sit there and tell me ’till you’re blue in the face that, “Oh, it’s not going to affect taxpayers.” It is. If you’re on a fixed income, this is going to be devastating.
And there should be a fund accrued so that if somebody is indigent or poor (and) can’t pay their taxes, it should be able to go to the board, appeal their property tax increase and get some type of reduction. That reduction should be paid out of the surplus of over $1 million from the budget this year.
All three candidates have served on the council — so why are you more qualified than the other candidates? Why should a Winthrop resident vote for you?
I’ve been on council two times before. I lost in a very narrow election — I lost by eight votes to Andy Wess when we ran. I wanted to run again. The other two councilors, Mr. Steele and Mrs. McDonnell, have been one term.
When I was on council, we passed the mooring ordinance. We got the community to work together. There wasn’t opposition about conflicts of interest or nepotism or any of those things, they never surfaced. And as a result, I think that my guidance and understanding of the taxpayers
of Winthrop would be invaluable.
At the end of another three-year term, what do you want your legacy in Winthrop to be? What do you hope residents think back and say about Bruce Burns?
I was always level headed, I represented the best of what my constituents had asked for and that I strove to do that. That would be a legacy that I would like to see.
Anything else you want to add about your candidacy?
I’m running to represent the taxpayers who have asked me and encouraged me to run again for council.
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