FARMINGTON – Incumbents Charles Murray and Mark Cayer will defend their seats on the Board of Selectmen against challenger Stanley Kuklinski on Monday when voters cast ballots.
Kuklinski formerly served on the Wilton budget committee. He was appointed by Gov. John Baldacci to serve on the Harness Racing Commission and previously on the Boxing Commission and Maine Athletic Commission. He retired last year after 35 years operating small businesses. He is also a certified tennis instructor, and it was in that capacity that he met his wife, state Rep. Janet Mills, more than 20 years ago.
Kuklinski was a key donor and organizer in the effort to create the fitness center at the University of Maine at Farmington, he said Wednesday. He is also a volunteer driver for Community Concepts and a lifetime member of the Wilton Fish and Game Club.
If elected, he said, he would have the time, experience and energy to study issues, seek input from residents and make decisions together with other selectmen. As selectman, he said, he will work to keep citizens safe and stimulate the economy while guarding the town’s pocketbooks.
“This is the give-back period of my life,” he said. “I’ll do my best to make Farmington a people-friendly and business-friendly place to live and work.”
Murray has been a selectmen for seven years, having taken over the seat from a former board member mid-term. He currently serves on the town’s comprehensive planning committee. A shoe manufacturing executive for 38 years, he is also retired.
He said he has the proven ability to work with other selectmen to solve the town’s problems, whether large or small. He is interested in developing jobs and supported creation of a Tax Increment Financing program instrumental in creating jobs in town. He also worked on the town’s comprehensive plan, which was “a real help in stabilizing the community,” he said.
He said he thinks current board members work well together, have worked diligently to keep taxes down and have kept a really tight budget.
“Having grown up and gone to school here, I would enjoy giving back to the town for all the good things I’ve gotten out of it in my lifetime,” he said.
Cayer is finishing his first three-year term as selectman. He formerly served as an SAD 9 director, and on the appeals board and budget committee. He worked in law enforcement for 15 years, serving with Farmington’s Police Department and, later, with Rumford. He currently works as a private investigator.
During his term, Cayer said the town has seen a taxable growth rate of 1.6 percent. Farmington’s economy is strong and will continue to grow, he said.
“Our fiscal house is on solid ground compared with the state and federal governments’,” he said. “We need to monitor the state and watch what’s going to happen with tax reform and be ready to act,” he added, saying he felt the current plan is flawed and shortsighted.
As a group, he said, the board is solid.
“I think we ask the tough questions. We challenge our department heads to provide the best service for the least amount of tax dollars,” he said.
Residents may cast their votes from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday at the Community Center on Middle Street.
Comments are no longer available on this story