Election 2007 News
Budget Committee race heats up
By Melissa Wood
YORK - Although in February only one candidate had expressed interest in any of the three open positions on the Budget Committee, the race for the two three-year terms on the board has now become contested with Charles Steedman and Steven Samborski on the ballot and Stephanie Vallee organizing a write-in campaign.
Frederick Boardman, Jr., is running unopposed for the one two-year term on the board.
Samborski could not be reached for comment before press deadline, but both Steedman and Vallee talked about why they're running for the position.
Charles Steedman
Charles Steedman
Charles Steedman's family has a long connection with the town going back to the 1890s when his grandparents visited in the summer. Steedman said he also spent almost every summer of his life in York.
His name may also be familiar to anyone who has enjoyed a leisurely walk in Steedman Woods; his father donated the parcel of woods by the Wiggly Bridge after World War II.
Now living here full time after retiring five years ago, he quickly got involved in a lot of local activities, including serving on boards for the York Land Trust and Old York Historical Society, and the York Harbor Reading Room.
Although some people called him crazy to want to get involved with another town commitment, Steedman said he saw the three openings with no one stepping forward and thought he could help.
"I am retired," he said. "I do have some time, and I have some experience with budgets."
He said if elected to the Budget Committee he would take the approach of giving a careful examination to the finances of both the town and school budgets to make sure that the departments are spending the tax dollars wisely for the things that voters approve.
He said a major question will be how to handle a possible state-imposed school consolidation between York, which has about 2,000 students, and Kittery, for example, which has 1,000, while each town has its own procedure for its budget.
Steedman's professional experience with budgets comes from his work in economic development, and particularly agricultural, in francophone Africa. His background includes working as economic officer at the U.S. Embassy in Mali, country director for the Peace Corps in Chad and manager of a USAID rural development project in Senegal.
"I'm pretty good at detail work and I don't mind rolling up my sleeves and digging into things," said Steedman.
Stephanie Vallee
Stephanie Vallee
Stephanie Vallee, a York resident for four years who now is also working in town at the new Sanford Institution for Savings, said she served on the Budget Committee in the town of Hooksett, N.H.
"Now that I'm working here in town, I really want to get involved again," she said.
Vallee said she considers whether something is a want or a need when it's proposed before the town and schools.
"I look at more of the necessity and importance," she said. "What's in the best interest of the town, but most importantly, what's in the best interest of the children who are the town's future."
She said that she would have supported a scaled-down version of the performing arts center for York High School that was defeated last year.
"It's like buying a car," she said. "The need is for four wheels to get you someplace - you don't need leather seats."
Vallee said she's a numbers-cruncher who loves doing her own taxes and is able to look at issues fairly to decide whether something fulfills a need or a want. She said it's important to meet the needs of the police and fire personnel, and realizing that York does have people who need services such as fuel assistance in order to get by.
"There's needy everywhere," she said.
She has helped out with organizing a Christmas tree stars benefit at SIS. Vallee said that she's looking forward to getting to know more people in town now that she both lives and works in York.
"This is a way of me getting to know my community," she said.
