A Note from Tony Payne

[Dave Libby]

I served with Tony for a few years on the Falmouth Town Council. Tony is a great guy and I respect his opinions. This one is SPOT on !

Town Council Service: 

You need to show up

 

Let me open this newsletter by saying I am grateful for people who are willing to put themselves forward as candidates to serve in public office whether we agree with them or not. The work is important and a great public service.

 

That said, among the reasonable expectations of any town councilor is having them show up consistently, contribute in a substantive fashion and be accessible. I believe any of the following three candidates are prepared to fulfill those expectations:

 

Charlie McBrady grew up in Falmouth, has a strong record of volunteer service, community involvement and business success. He has support from Democrats, independents and Republicans. He is a thoughtful individual who will listen and do his best to keep Falmouth affordable but moving forward. He has earned my vote as has Lucy Tucker for the School Board.

 

Erin Mancini is a relative newcomer to town but already has given her time to the planning process as a member of the Long Range Planning Committee. She also has a strong desire to keep Falmouth affordable, something that is of utmost concern to our aging citizens. 

 

Caleb Hemphill also has a long record of community service, particularly on environmental initiatives within the town. If elected, he too would be a thoughtful and substantive contributor to policy discussions.

 

In contrast, incumbent councilor Chris Orestis is having difficulty showing up or being accessible.

 

During his one term on the council, he has been noticeably absent when attendance is taken. For more than a dozen meetings, his seat was empty when the town clerk called the roll. 

 

Recently, he missed the controversial vote that added $45,000 to the construction cost of River Point Bridge. He left another meeting when it came time to vote on $175,000 of taxpayer money to improve the road behind WalMart. This is taxpayer money at stake.

 

In addition, Chris Orestis is the only councilor for whom a telephone number has been unavailable on the town web site since he assumed his position. All the other councilors use their cell numbers or home phones in order to receive resident feedback. 

 

Though many may disagree, I think voters deserve better representation than Chris has been able to give.

 

The choice is yours. You can cast your ballot at town hall before election day or exercise your vote on June 10th at the high school.

 

Finally, I want to thank Teresa Pierce for her two terms of service on the council. Though we sometimes disagreed on matters of policy, she kept the discussion at a high level - and she showed up.

 

Your Falmouth Town Councilors 

 

Teresa Pierce, Ch     tpi...@town.falmouth.me.us

Russ Anderson         rand...@town.falmouth.me.us

David Goldberg          dgol...@town.falmouth.me.us

Claudia King             ck...@town.falmouth.me.us

Karen Farber             kfa...@town.falmouth.me.us

Sean Mahoney          smah...@town.falmouth.me.us

Chris Orestis             core...@town.falmouth.me.us

 

Nathan Poore

Town Mgr                 npo...@town.falmouth.me.us