PARIS — Four candidates have returned nomination papers for two open seats on the Board of Selectmen.

John Goodwin, Charles “Tom” Hurd, Robert Kirchherr and Ryan Lorrain are running for the two seats of Chairman Raymond Glover and Lloyd “Skip” Herrick, who both announced they won’t be running.

Openings on the Paris Utility District and SAD 17 board are uncontested. Current school board members George Coffren Jr. and Henry Raymond are running again. PUD trustee Mark Bancroft is running again, along with Raymond Lucier Jr. who seeks a vacant seat.

John Goodwin, trailmaster for the X-Tra Mile ATV Club, said when he took out nomination papers for selectman there was only one other candidate. “I just didn’t want an empty seat.”

He said after the ATV club’s problems over Parsons Road, he wanted to bring “common sense” to the board. With four running now, Goodwin said he won’t be campaigning heavily.

Charles Hurd, who was on the Budget Committee until resigning Monday after the 2011-12 budget proposal was finished, said his friends have been pushing him to run for selectman for years.

With two openings and no incumbents, Hurd said this election seemed to be the right time to run. He also said he had “been a bit irritated” with the way Paris has been running recently and wants to make a difference.

Robert Kirchherr has been the chairman of the Planning Board for three years and on the board for more than four years. Last week, he presided over a joint meeting of Paris and Norway selectmen and department heads.

Kirchherr said his experience on the Planning Board has made him hungry for more civic involvement. “I thought what I was doing was important to the community, and I decided that, with two seats opening up on the select board, that it was an opportunity to take what I like doing and do more of it.”

Kirchherr ran for the Oxford County Commission in November but lost to incumbent Caldwell Jackson of Oxford.

Ryan Lorrain, 23, is a college student with a long resume. He is treasurer of  the Oxford County Republican Committee and sergeant-at-arms for the Maine House of Representatives. He said he plans to finish his business degree at Thomas College this summer.

He’s also a member of the Budget Committee, the Policy and Procedure Committee, the Planning Board and the Land Use Study Committee, and a former candidate for the House of Representatives.

“I’m really just trying to be more involved and be active and have things go a little bit more smoothly here in South Paris,” he said.

The Paris municipal election is set for June 14.

treaves@sunjournal.com

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