AUBURN – When Gary Baillargeon talks to voters, he hears lots of frustration.

People tell the Ward 1 challenger that city leaders don’t listen anymore. Their trust in local government is eroding.

“City councilors have a duty to bring issues forward,” Baillargeon said. “I don’t believe that’s happening.”

Instead, they are spending taxpayer money, he said. And they’re entrenching. Baillargeon believes he may be a cure.

He’ll listen, he said. And he’ll do what he can to help Auburn improve. He wants to focus on developing more business while improving educational opportunities.

“I want my children to grow up in a city that’s going to move forward,” the father of two said. Too many young people are leaving the area because the jobs here pay poorly, he said.

“If they want to stay, I want them to be able to,” said Baillargeon, who is self-employed as a private investigator. Mostly, he works for lawyers on workers’ compensation cases. Prior to that, he spent six years as an Auburn police officer.

The job gave him a perspective on the running of the city, he said.

“They’re spending all this money on capital improvements,” said Baillargeon. “The tax burden in this city is outrageous.”

It’s a lack of fiscal responsibility, he said. It’s a problem he believes would get worse if the proposed tax cap passes.

“Hopefully, the tax cap won’t prevail,” he said. Some departments such as Parks and Recreation would be forced to dramatically expand fees charged to citizens.

Facilities such as the new parking garage behind Auburn Hall should charge people, just like municipal garages in other cities, Baillargeon said.

“It’s great,” he said. “I don’t mind not paying.” But the city ought to charge, he said.

Some departments should be exempt from new fees, though.

For instance, he believes that between five and 10 more police officers ought to be hired. Public safety needs to be a higher priority, he said.

The city’s continuing negotiations with the firefighters’ union is an example, he said.

“That’s dragging and dragging and dragging,” he said. “It seems like nothing gets done.”

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