Name: Norman K. Ferguson Jr.

Age: 73

Hometown: Hanover

Education: Gould Academy, Burdett College

Work Experience: retired accountant

Family: wife, Barbara, four sons, 11 grandchildren

Ferguson: Id be hands-on


RUMFORD Norman K. Ferguson Jr. has served eight years as a state senator, 26 years as an Oxford County commissioner, and 12 years as a School Committee member for the former Rumford School Department.


This year, the Republican is making a first-time run for Oxford County treasurer.


Fergusons tenure as state senator expired in 2002 due to the term limit law. He served as chairman of the Utilities and Energy Committee and the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee.


He said he will bring a greater presence to the position of Oxford County treasurer if he is elected.


I would be a hands-on treasurer and would be on the job at least one day a week, he said. Id like to take advantage of the newest technology.
He said he wants to see a review of the procedure that allows grant money to go directly to the Civil Emergency Preparedness Office, rather than through a warrant for the county commissioners.


This would be for internal control purposes, to prevent fraud, he said, adding that he is not suggesting anything is wrong within the department.


He said if he was elected, hed complete the allocations to the county towns earlier so that county tax bills could go out earlier.


Besides his previous elective experience, Ferguson sits on the board of the Western Maine Transportation Services, and the executive council of the Maine chapter of the American Association of Retired Persons. He helped draft the procedure for the development of the Oxford County budget in the 1980s, and is a former director of Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments.


Name: Mary Ann Prue

Age: 68

Hometown: Rumford

Education: Stephens High School, additional course work in financial management

Work Experience: 10 years as Oxford County treasurer, retired Rumford town clerk and treasurer

Family: one son, two daughters, six grandchildren

Prue: I have the experience


RUMFORD Incumbent Oxford County Treasurer Mary Ann Prue has served for 10 years in the position, is retired as Rumfords town clerk and treasurer after 24 years of service in 2003, and prior to that, worked as a clerk in the Northern Oxford District Court and as a bookkeeper.


The Democrat wants another four-year term.


I enjoy the job, and I have the knowledge and experience, she said. With my background in Rumford, people looked up to me with honesty and integrity. I served the town well, and I serve the county well.


She said she introduced in-house payroll work in 1998 for the countys 80 employees. Previously, she said the work was contracted out.


This has saved the county thousands of dollars, she said.


She oversees the deputy clerk and part-time payroll employee, deals with bankers to get the highest rate of interest on county funds, and spends considerable time on the telephone when she isnt in the office. She also confers with the Oxford County commissioners.


I try to get the best interest for investments, she said.


She said among the reconciliations she conducts each month is that of the office of Civil Emergency Preparedness.


She is certified in the state as a town clerk and treasurer, has taken government accounting, public investment, and cash management courses, and is a member of the states County Treasurers Association. She also serves as treasurer of the Rumford Democratic Committee, and previously served on the Board of Directors for Western Maine Transportation and on the Edmund S. Muskie Memorial Committee.


In answer to allegations that she spends winters out-of-state in Florida, she said she spent seven weeks last winter in Florida, the first time she has been there in 10 years. She does not plan a long visit this year, she said.
Eileen M. Adams