4 candidates vying for 3 seats on Old Town City Council
Four candidates are vying for three seats on the Old Town City Council in the Nov. 7 election, including a trio of incumbents who hope to serve the city for another three years.
Council President Linda McLeod, Councilor Stanley Peterson and Councilor David Wight are running for reelection. Zachary Wyles, who ran last November when two seats were open, is also seeking a seat on the seven-member council.
Residents can vote from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7, at Elks Lodge, 37 Fourth St. in Old Town.
Candidates for the Old Town City Council and Regional School Unit 34 will be on the ballot, along with Maine’s referendum questions. Nearly all of the candidates expressed concerns about the future of Old Town’s pulp mill and their desire to keep the city’s tax rate from burdening residents so they can afford to live in the city.
Absentee voting has started and will run through Nov. 2, City Clerk Laura Engstrom said.
Voters can request the ballots online, mail a request to city hall or call 207-827-3965, extension 122. Details are available on the city’s website.
Candidates listed below are in the order they appear on the ballot.
Zachary Wyles
Zachary Wyles works for nonprofit Campus Victory Project, which helps student leaders get elected to positions on their college campuses. The 23-year-old has heard Old Town residents say they want to see someone young in leadership, and he is eager to step in, he said.
Wyles was raised in Alton and attended Old Town schools. He graduated last year from the University of Maine, where he served as student body president. He recently joined the Rotary Club of Old Town.
If elected, his primary goal is to strengthen communication between councilors and residents. Through his campaigning, residents have complained that councilors are slow to respond to their concerns, he said.
“Keeping a pulse on people’s interests and what’s best for Old Town is important,” he said. “You have to be communicative. If you’re not doing that, how do you know what their interests are?”
Economic development and revitalization of the downtown and parks should be a priority for the council, Wyles said. He commended councilors and city officials behind the work already underway. New businesses and money flowing into the city would help keep costs down for residents, some of whom are upset about a recent real estate revaluation and increased taxes, he said.
He noted food insecurity, particularly among elderly residents, as a major issue, and he’d like to see the city get more involved with local food pantries. Old Town also isn’t doing enough about its rat problem, said Wyles, who advocated for more research as well as talking to experts and cities that have solved their rodent problems.
“I have heard people say that leadership is getting too old in the country and at the municipal level,” he said. “Your young leader is right here, and I would greatly accept your vote.”
Stanley Peterson
Stanley Peterson, 73, has served as a councilor for the last nine years. He got involved when the mill first closed because he wanted to participate in decision making about the city’s future and the services available to residents.
Peterson has lived in Old Town since 1972. He is retired, but he taught industrial arts, woodworking and similar classes at Old Town High School for 44 years. He is a former president of the Rotary Club of Old Town and the Old Town-Orono YMCA’s board of directors.
“If the mill doesn’t reopen, my primary goal is to save as much of the town as possible from closing,” he said. “It’s awfully easy, when you lose $4,000 worth of taxes, to cut [services]. But as with last time, there is a happy medium.”
Old Town’s mill reopened in 2019 as ND Paper after its previous owner shut it down in 2015. It operated until mid-April, when its “extended downtime” began, which a company spokesperson announced in late March.
The mill’s fate is unclear, but the council needs to be prepared to deal with the outcome, Peterson said. Because ND Paper shut down after April 1, it will have to pay this year’s taxes, he said.
Establishing a budget is the council’s top responsibility, Peterson said. Somehow, through budget cuts or raising the mill rate, it needs to save what the mill was paying in taxes to keep the community viable, he said.
Peterson acknowledged complaints from residents that Wyles also brought up, including the city’s green pay-as-you-throw trash bags. They are upset about the cost and inconvenience, he said. Peterson also doesn’t like the bags, but he sees their value, which is good tax savings for the city, he said.
“I love this community, and I’m willing to work for it,” he said about why residents should elect him.
David Wight
David Wight was first elected to the council in November 2020, and he is seeking reelection next month.
Wight is a former Maine forest ranger who served on the Northeast Forest Fire Protection Commission for more than two decades, he told the Bangor Daily News in 2020. He also worked as Old Town’s public works director for 12 years, a position he retired from in 2010.
Over the years, Wight has been involved with the Old Town-Orono YMCA’s board of directors and Heritage Club, Old Town Museum’s board and Rotary Club of Old Town, he said previously.
He was not available to comment for this story.
Linda McLeod
Linda McLeod, 71, serves as the council’s president. She is nearing six years as a councilor and hopes to be reelected for another term to continue work essential to the health of Old Town, she said.
McLeod is retired, but she worked as a teacher and principal at Indian Island School and later as Maine Indian Education’s superintendent. She is an Old Town native.
Like Peterson, cracking what is happening with the mill is a key issue for McLeod. Mills have been on the decline in Maine for years, but Old Town’s is in good condition, and there must be a company that wants it if ND Paper decides to close permanently, she said.
“This isn’t the first time for us,” she said. “The mill has closed twice before. In this particular case, we thought we had it in the bag because they invested a great deal of money to get it operational. Right now we’re in the dark, and that’s kind of scary.”
McLeod sees economic development as the council’s top concern. With a community of fewer than 8,000 residents, the city needs businesses and projects to help its tax base, she said.
McLeod also hopes the council can spur change related to ongoing concerns at Juniper Ridge Landfill, including a sludge crisis in February and a fire at the state landfill in May. Between those and Penobscot Energy Recovery Co. in Orrington being closed, the situation is coming to a head, and matters should be addressed more ethically, she said.
“We need to start cracking down here and saying each community should be recycling,” she said. “Juniper Ridge is like an open dump. We need to look ahead and not wait, and the state should step in.”
Residents should vote for McLeod because she is dedicated to Old Town and has been all her life, she said. She believes she can make a difference, she said.