All candidates are nominated during town meeting and elections take place there.
OTISFIELD – Four people are in contests for two elected offices at the annual town meeting Saturday, March 6.
Selectman Gerry Robinson is retiring after 12 years and town clerk, treasurer and tax collector Anne Pastore is leaving after five years in those posts.
Mark Cyr and Mike McAllister are running for the seat on the Board of Selectmen.
Cyr and his wife, Roxanne, live on Jackson Brook Road and have two children.
They have lived in the community for the past six years and in the Oxford Hills area since 1991.
Cyr works for C.N. Brown Co. running their heating oil division for Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont and their convenience store division in Maine south of Lewiston and in New Hampshire. He said concerns over property taxes drove him to run for the selectman’s seat.
“The 2005 revaluation concerns me,” Cyr said. “I want to open lines of communications before that happens. I feel I can make a difference and attempt to minimize the tax burden it will create.”
Cyr has been a member of the Planning Board for the past two years and plans to resign that post if elected selectman.
“I feel my family values and business experience are a good reason to vote for me,” Cyr said. “I listen to people and am able to find middle ground to work things out.
“I think you need some business experience to be on the Board of Selectmen,” he added.
Mike McAllister grew up in Otisfield and has always lived within four miles of where he grew up. He attended first and second grade in the building that now houses the town office and graduated from Oxford Hills High School.
McAllister and his wife, Elise, live on Peaco Hill.
Growing up in the community, McAllister said he feels he is qualified to run. He has also been attending the Board of Selectmen’s meetings since June.
“I’ve learned a little about what goes on in town government,” McAllister said. “I know there’s a whole lot more to being a selectman.”
Making changes in the community is not a priority for McAllister. He noted a selectman is elected to serve the people and that he plans to listen to residents to see what they want.
“If I am elected to the Board of Selectmen, I do not plan to take my ideas to that board,” McAllister said. “I will see what the people want and do that.”
“I want to work for the residents,” he continued. “I want to give back to the community I grew up in.”
Shirley Hamilton and Penny Tougas are running for the town clerk, treasurer and tax collector post.
Hamilton and her husband, Henry (Buddy), live in the old Nutting Farm on Route 121 and have three grown children.
They purchased the farm in 1986 when they relocated from Brunswick. Only recently, they have called the farm in Otisfield their home. For the past 18 years, the Hamiltons spent their time in Afghanistan, Africa and the Balkans helping out in communities. They spent on average two weeks a year in the community, Hamilton estimated.
She has spent the majority of her life working in other communities and now feels it is time to give back to the community she calls home.
“We feel indebted to give back to our community after giving to so many other communities,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton believes her biggest benefit for the community is her ability to do many tasks at once and complete them all efficiently and correctly. She noted she is also very organized.
“They (residents at town meeting) should vote for me because I want to give them the best service,” Hamilton said.
Penny and Gary Tougas live on Rocky Road with their two teenage daughters.
They bought their property in 2002 and made it their full-time home last August.
The family moved from Massachusetts but had summered in their weekend camp in Lyman for 13 years.
“We always loved Maine and wanted a piece of property to retire to,” she said. “We found that property in Otisfield.”
Penny Tougas has a business degree and has been an accountant for several different companies.
“I want to work close to where I live,” she said. “Right now I’m commuting to Portland.”
Before deciding to run for the post, Tougas met with Pastore, Pastore’s assistant Lisa Connolly and Selectmen Assistant Marianne Izzo-Morin.
“I have spent a few hours job shadowing there,” she said. “Just to see how things work. I think it’s a nice friendly office and I think I can add to that.”
Gary and one of their daughters are on the volunteer Fire Department. Penny is on a fund-raising committee for the department. She said they are interested in joining more community groups.
“We enjoy living in Otisfield,” Tougas said. “We truly enjoy the people and we are looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
Anyone can be elected with a nomination from town meeting floor. There is no requirement to fill out nomination papers.
The annual town meeting starts at 9 a.m. at Otisfield Community School on Powhattan Road.
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