BUCKFIELD – Voters will be electing one assessor and one selectman, each for three-year terms, on Tuesday, June 7.
The candidates for assessor are Nicholas Dimalo and Lawrence “Skip” Stanley. Historically, the position has been held by a selectman, but it has always been a separate position.
There are four people running for selectman: Roger Bennett, Floyd “Chip” Richardson, Stanley and Dimalo.
Bennett, a longtime resident of Buckfield and veteran of the Vietnam War, has run unsuccessfully before. He said he would ask the town to seek a new auditor and would seek elimination of overtime pay for clerical staff. He would also like to see the board delay votes at meetings until the townspeople could speak, he said.
Richardson, a resident of Buckfield for 26 years, is a member of the SAD 39 board. He said he wants to get involved more in the town and puts schools at the top of his concerns. He would not be adverse to regionalization of the schools to help lower taxes, he said.
Stanley has served a three-year term as selectman, from 2001 to 2004. He has lived in Buckfield for eight years and has two children in the schools. He believes in attracting more businesses to Buckfield with better roads and parking, cleaning up the village and having a zoning ordinance. This would help with taxes, but the biggest problem with taxes is unfunded state mandates for the schools, he said.
Dimalo, a local businessman, has lived in Buckfield for six years. He said he is in favor of pushing for more businesses in Buckfield, and would like to start with a family restaurant where meetings could be held and which could serve as a community center. He said he believes that merging SAD 39 with other districts would be one answer to the rising cost of education.
Voters will also decide Tuesday whether to authorize the state to permit the operation of state liquor stores weekdays or Sundays, or both.
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