York Town News
York Senior Center hosts candidate forum
By Melissa Wood
YORK BEACH - A candidate forum drew about two dozen people with questions about the new town hall and the state's plan for school consolidation to the York Senior Center on Tuesday morning.
Incumbent Selectman Len Dorrian, Kinley Gregg and Ted Little - three of the candidates for the two open seats on the Board of Selectmen - introduced their positions and answered questions from the audience.
Dorrian and Gregg are both vying for a three-year term Dorrian currently holds, and Little is running against James Adams and Michael Ehrenborg for the remaining two-in the term currently held by Selectman Torbert Macdonald, Jr., who is resigning effective upon the May election due to ongoing health problems.
Neither Adams and nor Ehrenborg attended the forum.
Little said he is concerned that the state is usurping the town's rights with the proposed plan for school consolidation.
"The money goes up to Augusta, and we get precious little back," he said.
Little said he hoped the selectmen, whether he is on the board or not, will pressure their state representatives to change a system where York serves as a donor town, even when other communities have comparable per-capita incomes, because the housing values are more expensive here.
"The northern part of the state doesn't understand the southern part at all," he said.
Dorrian agreed that the state's proposed school consolidation will be a huge problem for York if it is passed. He compared the plan, which would require York to pay its existing school construction bonds among other things, to buying a house, then being forced to move out but still pay the mortgage.
Dorrian said he first became involved in town politics when he joined the Tax Task Force in the 1990s. He said at that time the tax rate was increasing by double digits.
"If the Tax Task Force hadn't been successful we were going to leave," he said. "I told my wife I'm not going to eat dog food to live in York."
Gregg, meanwhile, said she was not in favor of the current town hall proposal, even though she recognizes the need for a new facility.
"I did vote for the land acquisition last year and will stick by my guns on that," she said. Gregg said the architectural element was important to consider, calling Coventry Hall "the finest edifice in town."
She deferred to Selectmen Chairman David Marshall, who was also in attendance, when audience member Howard Koeppel raised the question of what to do with the current Town Hall.
Marshall said the town has a lot of options but did not want to spend a lot of time on them until the new facility is more of a reality.
"Let's see if we build a new town hall or not," he said.
Little, who acknowledged with a laugh that his wife is on the Municipal Building Committee, said he is in favor of the new town hall, but said if it is approved that does not mean the current plan is the one that would be used.
The candidates also brought up that the town will soon be looking for a new location for the Senior Center if the effort to build a new police station is successful in the future, since they are currently in the same building. Little said he wants to hear the seniors' opinion on the issue.
"You should be able to go where you feel the most comfortable," he said.
For more about the candidates for the Board of Selectmen, the School Committee and the issues voters will decide at the May 19 election, see next week's special election edition of The Independent on May 9.
