SENATE DISTRICT #15
RICHARD BRADSTREET

CHINA LIBRARY FORUM

Personal Biography:

I was born and brought up in Albion, the fifth of eight children, by parents who owned a potato farm. I graduated from Lawrence High School and except for the four years I spent at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, have always lived in central Maine. Married to JoAnne for 52 years and father of three adult children (all living in central Maine and one of whom is also a member of the Maine House) and a grandfather of seven.

My wife and I owned Bradstreet Homes, in Winslow, for 28 years before becoming semi-retired. I currently serve part time as executive director of a housing association while finishing up my fourth term in the Maine House where I have served on the Judiciary Committee, Labor & Housing Committee and the Joint Select Committee on Housing. I have served as the lead Republican member of the last two committees. In the past I have served on Albion’s Comprehensive Plan Committee and at different times have represented both Albion and Fairfield on the SAD #49 School Board of Directors, including one term as chairman. I served on the board of directors of what was the Winslow Community Federal Credit Union (now Connect), including several years as chairman. My wife and I are members of Faith Church, in Waterville, where I have served on both the elder and finance teams. Currently I also serve on the Vassalboro Budget Committee.

How state can contributed to the affordable housing issue?

There are several things we can do to address Maine’s housing shortage. We seem to concentrate a lot on subsidized housing, but we need to keep in mind that we have a shortage in all areas of the housing market and we should focus on increasing the supply of homes as well as addressing housing costs. I listen to what builders and developers say, and there needs to be a more streamlined permitting process for housing projects as well as taking a harder look at what is required to obtain these permits.

From what I have heard, privately financed projects are considerably cheaper to build than those that are publicly financed, primarily due to the additional conditions that are placed on projects that are publicly financed. We all know that it’s nice to have the latest technologies in every home, but if they substantially increase the cost of the homes with only a marginal benefit for the owner, it may not be prudent to require some of the features that are available.

There is a focus on subsidization of many development projects, which is OK in many instances, but we should realize that subsidies really mean that costs are transferred to somewhere else and do not disappear. There needs to be more attention paid to the raw costs that go into any project and control those the best that we can, and that may include taking a second look at some of the latest building code adoptions. I am told by those who build the homes that some recent mandates are quite expensive while offering only marginal benefits. It’s worth considering.

We need to realize as well that no matter what we do to help with permitting and costs, if we don’t have the personnel to build and remodel, our success in these areas will be limited. More attention needs to be paid to bringing more trades people into the picture, which means more concentration on Vocational education. Young people can achieve well-paying careers in the building trades. Lastly, given my experience in the off-site building industry, we need to be willing to accept newer technologies such as those found in the manufactured, modular and component industries, which can lead to less expensive and faster housing projects.

How to address the crisis in affordable emergency services, including OSHA rule on rural volunteer fire departments and how can the state support ambulance services for rural areas?

I have combined these two areas because they are somewhat connected with each other. As a member of the Vassalboro Budget Committee, I have seen up close how this is affecting smaller communities. Currently we contract with Delta and the per capita fees have increased significantly in the second year of the contract and look to increase even more in the upcoming years.

This has caused some communities to discontinue using Delta, which means that the remaining towns will have to pay even more to continue the service. It is not feasible for individual towns to provide ambulance services. This pattern is unsustainable. Several members of the Legislature, including myself, have met with Delta and are aware of the dilemma they face in order to remain viable. Out of this and other meetings in the state, a Blue Ribbon Commission was established to seek a solution and a recommendation was also made to allocate millions of dollars in state funds to help with a short term solution, but the money was significantly decreased and even what was allocated has really not been distributed.

Rule Making is currently taking place and the outcome should help with some of our current problems. It’s obvious that this is an issue that cannot be settled at the community level and has to be addressed at a state and/or regional level instead. Some progress has been made in the area of insurance covering more emergency calls, but that won’t solve the problem.

We need to bring the relevant people back together again and hammer out a reasonable solution. There is no easy answer but this needs to be a priority for the state. It’s my opinion that too many decision makers in Augusta and Washington D.C. do not prioritize the unique characteristics of rural areas, and that needs to change. As far as the OSHA requirements are concerned, I believe our Congressional delegation is putting pressure on to have them removed. This needs to be done, and the prospect of having onerous and unworkable mandates placed on small rural communities by government agencies that have no idea of the problems they create underscores why their authority needs to be curtailed.

Do you favor free community college education in Maine?

I believe that this initiative was right at the time, but it needs to be adjusted. Again, this is a subsidized program, which means that it is not free but has simply has all of the tuition costs transferred to the public. We can all agree on the need for a good education and community colleges provide a good source for that.

We do not want it placed out of reach for those who cannot afford it, but we should find a happy medium where the recipients of the subsidy pay for at least part of the costs. They are the ones who will be reaping the benefits of the paid tuition and should be expected to repay at least part of the costs out of the increased income they are expected to receive. It’s the old adage of having some skin in the game. I understand that they still have costs other than tuition, but paying just a portion of the actual costs is not unreasonable. As in everything else, the more money we spend on this particular program, the less money there is available for other initiatives we wish to address.

His opponent, Raegan LaRochelle’s response can be seen in the October 17 issue.

HOUSE DISTRICT #63
PAUL FLYNN

Background

Tell us why you are running for the Office of State Senate or Representative?

There is no one specific reason although I can sum it up best by saying I have seven grandchildren. From there I can launch into the myriad reasons why I am running by simply looking at the state of our State.

For over 40 years our number one export in Maine has been our Youth. We raise them, educate them, invest in them as a society and they leave.

They leave because they find Maine not to be a place they want to be. Many are driven out by better opportunities. More money, More opportunities. Our youth are left with a choice; stay and live in a state with the highest property tax burden in the Nation, and number 4 in overall taxation, overburdensome government regulation and social agendas, or leave.

There are many other reasons, all of which point to a lack of vision and leadership. In some summary form, this is why I am running.

Schools

Albion is losing its elementary school. Clinton is losing its elementary school. Why? Cost savings? If it is cost savings, then why do school costs continue to skyrocket?

We will have six-year-old children getting on buses at 6 a.m. for a one hour bus ride to Fairfield. How is any of this ok? And this is a microcosm of the loss of local control and the simple loss of parental and community voices.

All three of my children graduated from the SAD #49 schools. I coached sports for SAD #49. There are amazing educators and administrators in the system. There is. Yet I see it as top heavy system and lacking in local contribution to the long term goal. Seems we’re following some system that’s being driven at a very upper level of administration with less and less community input.

How is a town like Albion going to attract young families to their town if the elementary school is 15 miles away?

I do not know what legislation I would introduce. For me to speculate without learning more of all the issues would not be in the best interests of anyone. I will learn and educate myself on all the challenges facing all of us.

Women’s Healthcare

I believe in less government, particularly from the federal level usurping the individual state’s rights. To that end, I feel it is an individual State’s right.

Since becoming legal in Maine in 1974 we have gone from abortion’s base acceptance in legalization to protect the woman’s health, to the most liberal abortion laws in this land, which many Mainers find unconscionable. It is a very complex and difficult issue as we’re dealing with human lives; those of the mother and the unborn.

I am a pastor in a Christian Church and have had opportunities to counsel and be part of the trauma of abortion from all sides. It is a subject that is not going away and one that we all must have a place at the table on how we want it to affect our society. A woman’s right to choose to be respected and listened to. Yet, the voices of those traumatized by this act and who find it spiritually bereft must also have a seat at the table.

Community Colleges and Universities

I really have no opinion as I have no metric to show me what has happened over the last two years when this was being offered. How many people availed themselves to it? Were there candidates who would never have been able to attend without such a program? While I would love to say I am in favor of it I would need to know more information.

I have three adult children all graduates of Lawrence High School, in Fairfield. All three are college graduates, two from Maine colleges and one from a Massachusetts college. Two of them left Maine and one stayed. This is a long-term employment and economic issue that is not going to be solved in one magical piece of legislation. An environment must be created where our youth want to stay in the state.

This can be accomplished by researching the top five reasons why our youth are leaving and begin addressing those areas where we can have meaningful impact. It will require bi-partisan support with a deep look at our rural economically deprived areas. Are we offering the right course of study? Should we open our technical schools to students at a younger age who are showing aptitude in the trades? Have we explored Entrepreneurial Studies taught by some of the best entrepreneurs we have in the state? In short, what we’ve been doing is not working. We must have the courage and leadership to explore all options.

Communication

Most all print media have suffered in the electronic information age. Most stores don’t even carry print newspapers anymore. While I agree it is not healthy, we must look deeper into the whys of the erosion of literally all the institutions in our small towns. In addition to the loss of local media, we are losing our local schools, we are losing our local general stores, and in many local communities’ consolidation of reduction in services from the postal service and many medical facilities. It’s a deeper issue. In short, we’re losing our local voice. I don’t know of one thing that I would initiate to reverse the trend. But, this I can assure you, I am aware of it and will look for any and all opportunities to help reverse this trend in a legislative role.

The national political divide is now a wide chasm. The vitriol and nastiness have come down to us locally in large part due to the rapid and many times, rash and brazen news stories that seem to bombard us all day. People are being fed a steady diet of hate, division, and fringe politics. When someone speaks from a different viewpoint, they are attacked. People are taking lawn signs because they don’t agree with them. People react in not kind ways to people who are simply expressing their opinions.

To curb this tide communities must prioritize who they are and who they want to be. Local communities should encourage ALL to attend selectboard meetings, planning board meetings through communication and inclusiveness. We should be having spokespeople from the community visiting schools and talking about not just civics, but civility in civics.

We, as Americans, are better than a bunch of shouting voices. We are all immigrants here and have managed to get along, and grow together, and this trend must continue. From the local level moving upward to the state level the tolerance for divisiveness must be diminished by taking firm stands that we are neighbors first.

Economy in the State of Maine

In my opinion, the economy in the state of Maine is not working for all segments of society. All one must do is look south. Then look north. There are huge disparities in Maine’s economy because in part we are geographically diverse. One must look at the different areas of the state to determine what is needed in an area? What is needed in the major industry that serves the area? Do the natural resource industries need more diesel mechanics for trucks, boats, skidders? Does the agricultural industry in Central Maine need more support? More veterinarians, more skilled labor? Are our technical and educational colleges receiving an assessment on workplace needs 10 years from now? The problems and solutions are myriad.

Having been a business owner I can say firsthand that the manipulation of labor markets through the rapidly increasing minimum wage, along with a very luxurious welfare package that is offered is a major problem for our rural businesses. In addition, it is very frustrating and candidly not acceptable, to receive a candidate for a job, who is a high school graduate, who cannot functionally read or write. How can this happen? I have many questions that I will be asking so I can formulate strategies on what to do about it.

Employment

I touch on this above. Government manipulation of labor through wage controls is not helping. Small family business type models cannot pay more than $12 – $15 an hour for a new employee. The end result is the company actually cuts its labor dollars by the owners working more, or curtailing hours. Neither of which is helpful to the overall economy. Costs of power are increasing dramatically, sometimes overnight to meet the financial obligations of the solar fields that are taking over our landscape.

We need to lower our labor and fixed overhead costs to assist the small business in not just surviving but thriving. Government is rarely seen as a help to business, with the common thought among business owners that government is THE hindrance to many small business models. This can be changed by creating an environment where Government sees itself as part of the business success rather than government seeing a business as a source of revenue.

Affordable Housing

Having been involved in banking, entrepreneurial pursuits, and real estate for 45 years in the state of Maine I can say that it is a rare case when local property values are driven by the local wage earner market. The vast majority of Maine real estate values have always been driven by the out-of- state buyers. From the “Gold Coast” of Bar Harbor, down to Camden and beyond real estate in the “Vacationland” has always been impacted by the flow of out of state money. In the 1980s, in central Maine, we saw entire farms of 100-plus acres being gobbled up by retirees and investors from ‘away”. After 911 we saw it again, and again during Covid. And now, post Covid, with the workplace reset, real estate continues to climb beyond the local’s ability to enter as a buyer and is becoming increasingly difficult to simply keep with the property tax burden.

Incentive through lower property taxes so people can keep their homes. Also, lower property taxes would assist first time buyers as many are now faced with monthly tax escrows reaching $400 – $600 per month! On par of what their parents paid for a principal and interest mortgage payment. Tax credits for builders, and a lower capital gain rate may incent others to sell land they’re not willing to sell? It will require some out of the box thinking, and it may need to be more micro analyzed and implemented for certain areas but there are solutions.

Mental Health/Substance Abuse

I watched the Opioid pandemic rip through western Waldo County beginning some 20 years ago. What was and remains frustrating is the apparent lack of response or the delay in response to these crises. Literally everyone knew what was going on yet there was no action from any branch of government. When complaining to law enforcement they responded that their hands were tied. When approaching district attorneys for support on fraudulent checks and shoplifting the response was they don’t have time for the small cases. Well, these small cases are now very big cases!

Bottom line on mental health and substance issues is we have to realize we all have the problem! If one person in our community is addicted then we will all feel the pain of the addiction through broken families, poor job performance, dire financial situations and infractions with the law. We all must own the issue and work together.

Crises response is rapid, but what’s the follow up? Are our jails nothing more than de-tox units for the addicted? Are there long term care facilities with metrics for measurement? Are we all willing to say enough is enough and get serious in tackling the impacts to our communities? So far, I don’t believe we have.

We need rehabilitation facilities that work for all of us. Not prison lock ups, not short term counseling, we need to, as a community, get very serious about this issue. In addition to the necessary medical detox units that are needed we need longer term advocacy and mentor programs to not only keep people sober but to challenge them to be productive members of society.

In short, a community approach with law enforcement, members of the community, politicians from BOTH parties, educators, medical professionals, legal professionals need to be part of the solution. There is no silver bullet here. What is in front of us is hard work, new ideas and a resolve to want it fixed. That I have.

Closing Question

I would begin by addressing the property tax issue. We have elderly people who wonder if they’ll be able to be in their home a year from now because they can’t pay the taxes. Yet, we’re building new schools in the $50 – $80 million range. We have people who are going without because they can’t pay their power bill, so we can pay for all the solar panels that none of us asked for. I will go there next. We have young people graduating schools that are functionally illiterate. Why? We have criminals wandering our state delivering drugs and crime, why? What are we doing about it? We’re waiting upwards of two years or more to fix our rural bridges while the road is closed yet millions are being spent on “New Mainers”. What about the old Mainers who’ve been paying the bills for decades? We seem to be accepting a lot of what isn’t working and continue to attempt to convince ourselves that someday it will work. It won’t. It hasn’t. We had a legislative body vote for a powerline that was going to affect thousands of private property owners without ever having knowledge of where the powerline was going! They were told to vote for it by the “leadership.” Where was the leadership? That’s not leadership, that’s dictatorship. That’s why I am running for office.

CHINA SELECT BOARD
TOD DETRE

Background

I am running to be on the China Select Board because I feel the town can do a better job of helping its residents. We can help bring people together as a community and make China a place where people want to spend their time and enjoy their lives.

Schools

The town should stay in the RSU. Staying provides cost savings that we could not do if we were “on our own.” For example, some teachers and administrative staff rotate around daily to different schools in the RSU.

Parents should raise their children as they see fit, absent abuse, neglect, or abandonment issues. However, we can’t impose our beliefs on other people’s children. A public library is different from a privately-owned library. We can’t limit access to the public library catalog only to viewpoints that agree with ours. I would consult with a professional librarian to get their opinion. If there were still concerns by myself or the librarian, I would make sure to read the entire book before I formed an opinion.

Often, the people more directly involved in a situation have a better understanding of
what changes can help. I have shared my email, phone number, and social media contact information freely and encourage anyone to reach out. I realize that I am not a subject matter expert in all things. I appreciate knowledge and viewpoints from those directly involved and would seek them out. I would then use that input to help guide ideas and decisions and use my position to facilitate communication for positive change.

Everyone deserves a safe and supportive education. We need to step up and make sure every student’s safety and educational needs are met. Discrimination is unacceptable. When it happens, steps need to be taken to ensure it is corrected and does not happen again. As a Select Board member, I will amplify voices that may not otherwise be heard.

Women’s Healthcare

We should trust women. I am neither a woman nor a doctor and I am not qualified to interfere.

Pregnancy is a stressful medical condition. Complications can develop at any point, and the people who are best able to determine what to do about them are the people involved. That would be the woman who is pregnant and those she trusts.

Community Colleges and Universities

I work for the University of Maine System and am a proud member of the Universities of Maine Professional Staff Association. I generally feel that free or reduced cost higher education is a good thing. While it may not be for everyone, everyone should be able to attend one if they feel that is best for them. I feel this should apply to trade schools as well, but we have to start somewhere. The University of Maine system recently adopted a policy to guarantee admission to any graduate of the Maine community college system. This will allow someone to continue on for a four year degree if they feel that is right for them. If we continue with free tuition, we will need to make sure that the community colleges are properly funded so that both faculty and staff can be appropriately compensated for their work.

Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development

We need to invest in Maine to help make it easier for these people to continue to live in Maine. I do server administration for a living, and I have had problems maintaining an adequate internet connection at home to perform my job. Both my wife and I need high speed internet at home for our jobs. When I first moved to China, I was not able to get it at our home. We were lucky that Spectrum added a line to our house before we had to move. Now, it is common for home buyers to check for internet access and other infrastructure needs before deciding where to live. If an area does not have what they need, they will look elsewhere. Large corporations will build where it is most profitable.

Rural areas are often the last on their list. State incentives can change that. I focused on internet access because it is a subject I’m passionate about. There are many other areas that can keep or draw talented people.

Communication

I think that the town supporting a local newspaper is important. However, we also need to be careful that “government” does not interfere with the journalism process. We need to make sure that the support given is not contingent on positive articles. I believe that partisan divides happen more when people do not interact with each other. As a community we should encourage projects that will bring people together.

Economy in the State of Maine

I don’t know if there has been a time in history where an economy has been working for “all” segments of the society. There have always been marginalized groups. I feel we can do more for those who have less.

Public services and infrastructure can be vital for those who can not afford other options and can provide competition to drive down prices for everyone. Capitalism works when there is competition. Some places we do not have and do not want competition. Power lines are an example of this. We don’t want to have multiple sets of power lines and poles running down every street so that we can choose between power line providers. This would make an ugly, dangerous mess. In this case, power lines owned by a corporation gives that corporation a monopoly. Instead, we should have a publicly run entity in charge of the local power lines. We can then choose who supplies our power to the grid.

I have always been impressed with the number of small businesses in Maine. These businesses are having problems filling open positions because workers feel they cannot afford to work for the wages the business can afford to pay. This mostly comes down to healthcare. Part-time workers tend to not receive health insurance from their employer. Many people cannot afford to work at a business where they do not receive healthcare. A small business has a small pool of employees. This can mean that one illness among the employees can drive the group’s insurance costs up. If you could reduce or remove healthcare costs that would provide small businesses with more ability to increase wages. We could also do more to encourage people to move to Maine by making sure the infrastructure and amenities they need are here.

Affordable Housing

We should make sure investors are not buying up all the housing to resell as Airbnb or other similar things. Other than that, one issue we’re having is that people feel they can’t downsize to a smaller house because they currently have a good interest rate they got years ago and mortgage rates are very high now. Perhaps a program to insure those on a fixed income that want to downsize are able to do so.

Mental Health/Substance Use

In 2023 the surgeon general issued a report on “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation”.

As a Select Board Member, I would support initiatives that help bring our community together. China Community Days is a wonderful thing our town does, but it’s only once a year. Parks and other meeting locations can be vital for socialization and mental health.

Closing

The town has a limited budget, and many are on limited or fixed incomes. However, I believe that, if we work together, the town can provide cost savings from the economies of scale for services that residents want and need. Often the town would be eligible for external money from grants, gifts, or other programs that individuals would not qualify for. We shouldn’t turn down free money when it could benefit our community.