York election 2023: Three candidates vying for two Selectboard seats
YORK, Maine — A longtime public official, the Budget Committee chair and a three-term incumbent are vying for two seats on the Selectboard May 20.
Selectboard member Robert Palmer is seeking his fourth term, while Marla Johnson is seeking her first after three years on the Budget Committee, one as chair. Also running is former Selectboard member Torbert MacDonald, Jr., who last served in 2015.
Robert Palmer
Occupation: Self-employed, owning and managing local apartment buildings.
Education: BA History, University of Southern Maine; MBA Finance, Michigan State University.
Public Service: Current Selectboard member. Prior to that, I was a member of York’s Budget Committee for six years, the last two as chair. I have also served on the boards of the Old York Historical Society, York Housing Authority, and York Ambulance Association. I continue to be very involved in St George’s Church and am a member of the York Rotary Club.
Why do you want to be a member of the Selectboard?
To continue to serve our community as an active listener and problem solver advancing the town’s business in a productive and respectful manner. To create and sustain a collaborative relationship with the new town manager, enabling the board to focus on its policymaking and oversight roles, and allowing the manager to handle operations.
What do you see as the top three issues facing the town and how do you plan to address them?
While it’s not always possible to identify what Issues will be important going forward, it is important to have elected leaders who listen and debate in a thoughtful and civil manner seeking solutions which are best for the whole community. I believe I have demonstrated an ability to do this.
As a Selectboard member, from whom will you seek advice or input in weighing key decisions?
York is blessed to have a knowledgeable and engaged citizenry. As in the past. I will look for input from the York community, town employees and my colleagues on the board.
Marla Weare Johnson
Occupation: Retired banker
Education: BA, Economics, University of California
Public Service: York Budget Committee, currently chair; Town Hall Building Committee; and Old York Historical Society trustee.
Why do you want to be a member of the Selectboard?
I would like to continue my service to the town by moving to a policy role, representing citizens as we move forward to make York a better place for everyone. As a Selectboard member, my priorities will be to work collaboratively to do the people’s business, to support our staff as they support us, and to build consensus in support of the town’s priorities. I am a thoughtful listener, a skillful questioner, and am open-minded, even-handed, calm, kind and committed.
What do you see as the top three issues facing the town and how do you plan to address them?
Rather than issues, I believe what we have in York are opportunities. I will work to finish our key projects; the renovation of Town Hall, completion of the seawall, and bringing the village revitalization project to fruition. With a new town manager and new superintendent leading our dedicated staff, I believe the town has an opportunity to collaborate internally and identify efficiencies across departments. Working to support residents of all ages includes ensuring a vibrant business community as well as focusing on housing, social services, cell phone service, quality education, and recreation. York is fortunate to have an amazing history and an abundance of natural resources, from the beach to the mountain, along the river and in our open spaces. It’s important that we thoughtfully invest in and protect the features that make York a special place. The newly updated comprehensive plan and climate action plan provide a guide to this work.
As a Selectboard member, from whom will you seek advice or input in weighing key decisions?
First - citizens. York is fortunate to have many involved citizens, and while everyone will not agree all the time, everyone’s opinions are valued. Second - our staff, who have the expertise to identify how decisions will affect town operations and services. Third - my colleagues on the Selectboard. Fourth - outside research to enhance my understanding of an issue.
Sitting here today, we don’t know what issues will arise over the next three years, but I am committed to being open-minded and to putting in the work to help make York a better place for all.
Torbert H. Macdonald Jr.
Occupation: Retired energy and natural resource policy analyst
Education: BA in Government, Harvard University
Public Service: Conservation Commission (chair); Comprehensive Plan Committee; elected to Charter Commission; Planning Board; Selectboard (elected three times).
Why do you want to be a member of the Selectboard?
I am running for the Selectboard because I wish to continue my 40 years of public service to the town of York. I helped create the Mt. Agamenticus Wilderness Reserve; co-founded the York Land Trust; partnered with the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve to procure Federal Clean Water Act grants to study the non-point source pollution status and fisheries inventory of the York River. I wrote and co-sponsored the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance and overlay zones that a) enabled York Hospital to create its campus, b) defined the right to farm in the Farm Overlay Zone and c) allowed the creation of the May Sarton Artist Colony with the Cultural Institution Overlay. For over 40 years I have worked to protect the town’s unique natural resource base from untrammeled development while also expanding the private property rights of the citizenry. As York undergoes a new period of development pressure, I have the knowledge, experience, and creativity to help manage growth responsibly.
The greatest challenge to York continues to be the protection of our unique natural resource base from ill-managed growth. We have the highest bio-diversity in Maine and we still have numerous large unfragmented habitat blocks of land that need protection. I will work to create a Transfer of Development Rights program (TDR) that would protect the property values of the traditional community by allowing for the transfer of their development rights to the perimeter of the habitat blocks allowing for the creation of rural village clusters.Climate-friendly affordable housing needs to be nurtured. I will work to expand the rights of homeowners to densify their homesteads beyond the accessory dwelling unit allowing for a duplex to be created on any single-family lot. We should also create density bonuses for small house conservation subdivisions. The TDR program described above should also help.
Government at all levels has grown opaque. I will work, as I always have, for more open, transparent and accessible government processes.
As a Selectboard member, from whom will you seek advice or input in weighing key decisions?
I will seek advice, as I always have, from the broad range of intergenerational citizen savants I have cultivated over my 40 years of service to the town. I will continue to research all issues deeply as I always have in my professional life as an energy and natural resource policy analyst working for the New England Governors’ Conference and the state of Maine Office of Energy Resources where I was chief planner and gubernatorial appointee to the Northeast International Committee on Energy working with the Canadian Maritime Provinces and Quebec on alternative renewable energy resources.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York election 2023: Three candidates vying for two Selectboard seats
