Seven Presque Isle residents are vying for two open City Council seats this November, setting the stage for a crowded field.
The candidates qualified for the ballot by returning nomination papers by the 4:30 p.m. Sept. 5 deadline.
Running for the open four-year seat is incumbent Harold Hull, interim Councilor Tim Levesque and Herman Legassie.
Hull has served in the position since March, when he won a special election to fill the seat that opened after the death of former councilor Garry Nelson in October 2024.
Hull ran on a platform of bringing a new perspective to the council by creating meaningful change for the working class. In a video discussing his campaign before the special election, he mentioned priorities that included creating affordable housing, combating homelessness and finding ways to lower property taxes.
Levesque joined the council on Aug. 20, appointed until the election to fill a vacancy for a three-year seat created by the resignation of former Councilor Meg Hegemann in July.
He is a cybersecurity professional for global company SentinelOne and a member of the Aroostook Shrine Club who has lived in Presque Isle since a young age.
“I work for a company that is global, I could live anywhere, but I choose to stay here because I love the people and I love the work that this council does in trying to improve the community every single day,” Levesque told the council before being appointed.
By running for the four-year seat, he ensures that at least one new councilor will be elected in November — to the three-year seat he now holds on an interim basis.
Legassie, the third candidate, was one of eight residents that pitched their candidacy to the council at the August meeting in which the council appointed Levesque. The latter won the seat with three votes. Legassie, among several other candidates, received two.
“I’m just more curious about getting into town politics and what goes on in this town and helping out in the best way that I can,” Legassie said at the meeting. “I’ve got no particular agenda right now.”
According to his LinkedIn, Legassie is a bus driver for the Aroostook Regional Transportation System.
The candidates for the open three-year seat are Craig Hemphill, Mikaela Henninger, Debra Plummer and Carli Simon-Cleaves. All but Simon-Cleaves competed for the interim council seat at the August meeting.
Hemphill, who said he worked for a contractor, was one of three candidates who lost the March special election to Hull.
“I’d like the opportunity to serve on the City Council,” Hemphill said in August. “I’ve been volunteering at the soup kitchen for the past three years, so I get to see some of the people that we see around town and I’d like to do the best I could for the community.”
Henninger is a hairdresser in Presque Isle and a leader of action group Aroostook Organizers for Change. She officially announced her candidacy on Tuesday.
“My daughter was born in 2021, and when I had her, I definitely noticed a shift in how I feel about this community,” Henninger told the council in August. “I started to care a little bit more and see things a little bit more deeply. Community is a huge thing for me … and I really want to be able to dive into that a little bit more.”
Plummer is a retired federal employee of the Defense Finance Accounting Service in Limestone. She said she’s running for City Council to make a “meaningful difference.”
“I’ve raised my family here and deeply value this community,” Plummer said in announcing her candidacy. “I want to be a voice for the people — to listen, to advocate, and to help bring about positive change whenever possible.”
Simon-Cleaves is the former owner of Simon & Estelle, a children’s clothing store in downtown Presque Isle that closed in March. In the last decade, she’s also served as an office manager for Northern Maine Oral & Facial Surgery and as an occupancy specialist for the Presque Isle Housing Authority.
“I’ve worked just about everywhere — from public housing to running my own business,” Simon-Cleaves wrote in a Facebook post announcing her run Wednesday. I’ve seen what it’s like to stretch a dollar, to build something from scratch, and to feel like your voice isn’t being heard. That’s why I’m stepping up.”
MSAD 1 Board of Directors elections
In addition to the City Council races, there are seven open seats on the MSAD 1 Board of Directors, with only three candidates running to fill them, all unopposed.
Board chair Lucy Richard is looking to retain her seat in Section 12, which covers some of the residential area around Presque Isle High School and Zippel Elementary and from North Street to the Aroostook River.
Cole Staples, the incumbent in Section 6, which covers the northernmost area of the city, north of the Brewer Road, is also running to keep his position.
The election’s only newcomer is Shawn Berube, a claims representative at the Social Security Administration office in Presque Isle. Berube is running to replace Brandy Cronin in Section 8, encompassing much of the southeast end of the city, including Pine Street Elementary and Mantle Lake. He would serve out the remainder of her three-year term, which expires in 2027.
Section 1, Section 11 and Section 16 will all be newly vacant roles as their directors — Dan Edgecomb, Curtis Culberson and Jenny Paul, respectively — will not seek reelection. Section 17, which no candidates ran for in the 2024 election, will remain vacant.
Correction: A previous version of this story mischaracterized Hemphill’s professional career.
