York election 2022: Three-way race for two seats on the Budget Committee
YORK, Maine — Three candidates are vying for two three-year seats open on the Budget Committee May 21 in the town election. Incumbent Christine Hartwell will defend her seat against John D’Aquila and John Mercurio. Budget Committee member James Smith, whose term is up as well, did not file to run.
John D’Aquila
Age: 57
Address: 70 Darcy Road
Occupation: Senior finance director, Watts Water Technologies – 2014-present
Education: B.S. in business administration/accounting – University of Connecticut
Public service: York School Committee member 2006-2015; York Library Board of Trustees 2004-2007 (treasurer 2005-2006); Habitat for Humanity Family Selection Committee Chair 2000-2002; and York Little League manager/coach 2006-2014.
1. Why do you want to be a member of the Budget Committee?
York has been my family’s chosen home for the last 26 years. We consider ourselves fortunate to live and raise our children in this community, and I seek to give back to the town in small ways such as public service. My 35 years of professional finance/accounting experience as well as my previous public service on the York School Committee and the York Library Board of Trustees make me uniquely qualified for the position.
I understand the importance of balancing the many financial needs of the town/schools while ensuring that we are being fiscally responsible to the taxpayers. My moderate and pragmatic positions should lend themselves to addressing such matters in an objective manner for our constituents.
2. What do you see as the top three issues facing the town and how do you plan to address them?
As a point of clarity, we are not a “policy board” so the Budget Committee’s only means to influence issues that they want to address is through supporting or adjusting funding proposals brought forth by the town/schools. With that said, I believe significant challenges facing York include:
A) Prioritization of significant capital spending projects (e.g. Town Hall renovation/expansion, Community Center, expansion of public sewers, maintenance of roads/infrastructure, etc.) and the execution against those investments. I am supportive of the Town Hall renovation/expansion given the very notable space constraints and sub-standard work environment. I am also supportive of increased investment in roads, sidewalks, etc. to properly maintain our infrastructure. Separately, I am concerned with our ability to execute against approved capital investments effectively and efficiently given our past difficulties with both big and small projects. We need to collectively improve our execution and better hold responsible project/department leaders accountable.
B) Expanding the use of online services and the ability to make electronic payments or use credit cards. Given my observations and experiences, we have to prioritize implementation/modernization of necessary systems to bring us closer to current technology standards. As others have noted, it is time to advance beyond the outdated manual and inefficient practices.
C) Managing budgets tightly given the rising inflationary costs which are likely to continue for the foreseeable future. It is important that we compensate competitively to retain talented employees, especially in this current scarce labor market while ensuring that we are not over-burdening taxpayers.
3. As a Budget Committee member, from whom will you seek advice or input in weighing key decisions?
Understanding that a critical responsibility of being an elected public official is to listen and objectively represent one’s constituents, I intend to:
Welcome and solicit input from the Taxpayers, whether through emails or informal discussions/exchanges.
Seek appropriate levels of supporting data from our town/school leaders, including the costs and projected benefits of proposals, to ensure that the committee is fully informed.
Utilize my years of financial experience and public service to help develop my positions.
Work effectively with the rest of the Budget Committee in order to arrive at a consensus, when possible, and make thoughtful decisions.
York election 2022: Four newcomers vie for two School Committee seats
Christine Hartwell
Age: 71
Address: 57 Woodside Meadow Road
Occupation: Retired
Education: Northeastern University, Bachelor's of Science in education
Public Service: York Village Revitalization Committee, Master Plan for York Village 2013-2021; York Diversity Forum, ongoing; York Community Dialogue online and public events, “Let’s Talk About Rising Seas”; Bring Your Own Bag York 2016; York Energy Fair 2019
1. Why do you want to be a member of the Budget Committee?
I am currently a member of the Budget Committee, having been elected in November to fill a term from November 2021 to May 2022. My early experience with the committee, particularly during “budget season” in January and February, was very enlightening. In November, I knew I would consider running in May for a full term if I felt I had contributed to the 2022 budget process in a positive way.
2. What do you see as the top three issues facing the town and how do you plan to address them?
A) A visible us vs. them mentality in our community. Last summer, I started to attend School Committee meetings as schools represent the largest portion of the town budget. The tenor of those meetings, with clapping, booing, and belligerent comments, was very disconcerting. Those behaviors carried over into other town meetings during that time. As an elected official, I will do my best to promote cooperation and consensus-based on civil conversation. I would also like to encourage more citizen participation in town activities. Being part of a town committee provides a bigger picture of town operations.
B) Rising inflation. Inflation will affect the town’s budget items in the short term. It will make budgeting of resources and union contracts, which are based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), harder to forecast. It is also likely that it will become a greater challenge to control changes to the mil rate.
C) Impending loss of key town staff. These folks take with them long-term experience and collective knowledge of our community, town processes, and our people. A need for new hires, combined with inflation, will no doubt have an impact on the budget over the coming years.
3. As a Budget Committee member, from whom will you seek advice or input in weighing key decisions?
As a member of the Budget Committee, my first level of advisors will be my colleagues on the committee. Previous Budget Committee members are very community-minded people, and I could reach out to them also. I recently took a day-long course in Municipal Budget Management sponsored by the Maine Municipal Association. I also listen to Select Board meetings with an eye toward things that might lead to budgetary issues down the line. I am currently the Budget Committee liaison to the School Finance Department. A Budget Committee liaison follows the monthly financial reporting of the schools, town, library or special town projects to avoid surprises when budget season next rolls around.
York election 2022: Two-way race for one Board of Selectmen seat
John Mercurio
Age: 73
Address: 620 York Street, York
Occupation: Retired engineering/construction manager
Education: BA in Business Management
Public Service: Budget Committee, Shellfish Management, and past commander of Post 56 American Legion
1. Why do you want to be a member of the Budget Committee?
I would like the opportunity to represent those of us who have concerns about how the budgeting process is being carried out. The responsibility of the Budget Committee is to review, question, prioritize and scrutinize spending proposals. The makeup of the current committee promotes more and more spending; as one committee member referred to as the “yes train.” This would surely have been a year to show some restraint, especially in a year with all the extra COVID money and in an inflationary environment.
2. What do you see as the top three issues facing the town and how do you plan to address them?
I feel that the top three budget issues are:
A) Huge fund balances are amassed and used to justify spending on new requests for the next year. The current proposed 2023 budget includes $1.0M for the schools, and $1.2M for municipal budget, for a total of $2.2M. The budget also includes a 7.5% salary increase for all town employees.
B) The warrant articles have a lack of transparency, and hidden expenditures. For example, article 33 includes $4M for the school maintenance while the Parks and Rec Dept. maintains the school grounds.
C) The fact that a "no" vote goes back to the prior year amount leaves no mechanism to decrease spending when appropriate.
I would address these issues by pushing for more detailed information and justification for budget items. For example, over the past ten years, the school budget has increased by 52% while student enrollment has decreased by 11%.
3. As a Budget Committee member, from whom will you seek advice or input in weighing key decisions?
During the budget process, I would hold the department heads responsible for explaining their requests, and I would discuss the issues with my constituents.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York ME Election 2022: Three-way race for Budget Committee
