CARIBOU, Maine – One incumbent and two newcomers are vying for two open seats on Caribou City Council.
Benjamin Tucker and Paul Watson will appear on the ballot this year along with incumbent and former city mayor Jody Smith.
Caribou’s municipal elections will take place Tuesday, Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Caribou Wellness & Recreation Center at 55 Bennett Drive.
All candidates were asked the same questions. In alphabetical order, here are the candidates and their responses.
Jody R. Smith
Age: 49
Party Affiliation: No answer
Why are you running for city council? I am seeking re-election for city council to serve the citizens as I have in the past. We have a lot of previous agenda items that need to be resolved. I believe with my approach to city business we will continue to move forward in a positive fashion. The council needs to be conservative but not unreasonable and I believe I represent that.
Education: High school
Employment: Local agricultural industry
Family: Father, Richard Smith; mother, Betheny Anderson; brother, Whitney Smith
What are the top three priorities you wish to address if elected? Make Caribou more business friendly, complete the public safety building, continue with blight removal and adopt a new tax acquired property policy in accordance with the state.
Benjamin Tucker
Age: 32
Party Affiliation: Libertarian
Why are you running for city council? If not me, then who? I think it’s pretty clear that the status quo is not working for the average person in Caribou. We are paying more in taxes without seeing any measurable improvement in services or new services. If you talk to local business owners, a common sentiment you hear is “Caribou doesn’t care about business.” People are seeing their rent or mortgage payment increase. We need sensible spending and sensible budgeting so we can work to alleviate the burden on people and build up our community instead of slowly smothering them with a cumbersome cost of living.
Education: I received my diploma in 2009 after being homeschooled and studied computer science at Santa Rosa Junior College in California.
Employment: I currently work in the telecom industry as an engineer.
Family: No answer
What are the top three priorities you wish to address if elected? I would like to stress that these top three are equal in importance to me. Economic development and building commerce in the community is my first priority by far. Examples include working with our existing businesses to extend tax breaks to allow them to grow, reducing city ordinances down to state minimums and offering tax incentives to prospective businesses.
My second priority goes hand in hand with the first. Cost of housing and housing availability needs to be addressed. Similarly, removing ordinances and offering incentives to build attacks both problems at the same time. More available housing lowers the cost of living. A larger tax base reduces the tax burden on individuals and a lower cost of living empowers people to support our local businesses. People are less inclined to spend their money on luxuries if they’re living paycheck to paycheck.
Third, is to bring a focus on responsible spending. We need “makes sense” spending and not “feels good” spending. There has been a lot of talk about keeping the budget stable, but I would like to see what can be done to bring the budget down. In a lot of cases the obstacles the community is facing don’t need money thrown at them. We just need to take less from people and empower the private sector.
Paul Watson
Age: No answer
Party Affiliation: Republican
Why are you running for city council? I am running for city council because I’m frustrated with our current tax situation, our city council and town management as it is presently and the lack of realistic financial management.
Education: Nursing degree, military service and multiple small business experiences.
Employment: Retired military veteran and retired nurse. Currently working with veterans in Aroostook County
Family: Married to Jeanine Watson
What are the top three priorities you wish to address if elected? Create revenue streams for the city to ease the tax burden on its citizens, restructure current management practices to facilitate economic growth and help create a city council that listens and responds to its citizens needs and represents all citizens.