Wayne K. Farrin (Nolan Wilkinson photo)
As a real estate agent, Wayne K. Farrin, D-Jefferson, has helped people find homes for more than 35 years. Now, Farrin wants to help people find homes as legislator for House District 47.
“Especially for young people, it’s just so hard,” Farrin said. “Unaffordability is just off the charts, especially the last three or four years.”
Farrin is running against Rep. Edward J. “Ed” Polewarczyk, R-Wiscasset, in the race for House District 47, encompassing Wiscasset, Alna, Whitefield, and Jefferson.
In 2020, Farrin lost a bid for the Democratic nomination in House District 88, which consisted of Chelsea, Jefferson, part of Nobleboro, and Whitefield until redistricting in 2022, to Chris Hamilton, D-Whitefield. Hamilton went on to lose to Michael Lemelin, R-Chelsea, in the general election.
Farrin grew up lobstering with his father in South Bristol. He graduated from Lincoln Academy, and then got his marine engineer’s license through the U.S. Coast Guard by attending Southern Maine Vocational School, now Southern Maine Community College.
Farrin spent 11 years working in commercial shipping along the East Coast before leaving the Merchant Marine to start a family with his wife, Lynn. In 1988, Farrin got his real estate license, and, in 2001, he opened Farrin Properties, which he would later sell in 2022.
Farrin said he was first elected to the Jefferson Budget Committee 20 years ago after he started spending more and more time in the Jefferson town office. He has sat on the budget committee every year since 2003.
Farrin also served on the Damariscotta Region Chamber of Commerce and Information Bureau Board of Directors from 2018-2024, and the Central Lincoln County YMCA Board of Directors for six years.
Farrin bought the Jefferson Market & General Store in 2018, reopened it in 2021, and has operated it with his wife and their son, Caleb, since.
“It’s been a good pick-me-up for the community,” Farrin said.
His knowledge of the community and time spent talking with its residents has helped shape Farrin into a good potential representative, he said.
“I’m a people person,” Farrin said. “I’ve been in sales pretty much my whole life. I know a lot of people, and I know how to talk to people, how to get them to sit down at the table, discuss things, and maybe come to a happy medium. That’s what I’m hoping to do when I get to Augusta.”
The lack of affordable housing is the most pressing challenge facing the county, according to Farrin.
“First-time home buyers have got to be able to have a chance,” Farrin said. “We’ve all had a chance for years and years. I’d really love to get on the housing committee, if possible, and be able to show what I’ve done for over 35 years.”
The Legislature should explore options like assistance with down-payments on homes and subsidization of new housing developments, according to Farrin.
L.D. 2003, a law passed by the Legislature in 2022 with the intent of eliminating regulatory barriers to new housing, is a step in the right direction, Farrin said.
Farrin said he wants to secure needed funding for schools to help more children find good role models and educators because of the state’s teacher shortage.
“We need to keep local schools open and keep teacher salaries up to attract teachers,” Farrin said. “Our kids are the future.”
Farrin said he would also like to see additional funding dedicated for local schools; however, he said he knows finding new funding sources is difficult.
“You’ve got to be able to find the money,” Farrin said. “There’s some wonderful things to do out there, but you’ve got to find the money to fund it.”
Ever more, expensive prices on groceries and prescription drugs are a large part of the increasing cost of living for Mainers, Farrin said.
“Those are getting out of hand for the seniors and for everybody, but there should be help to keep costs down, to make it affordable,” Farrin said. “That’s a big, big thing that we can do, and Social Security only goes so far for a lot of our seniors.”
The state needs to do more to keep track of and curtail price increases for common groceries and prescription drugs, Farrin said. Introducing price increase limits on certain products or providing incentives to grocery stores could be solutions, Farrin said.
“It’s watching and trying to force people to keep the prices down in some way,” Farrin said. “It’s been a tough, tough two or three years after COVID. (Prices) took off, and I think there’s a lot of places that just kept going.”
Farrin, who spent 10 years as a volunteer firefighter in the Coopers Mills Fire Department, said volunteer fire departments are struggling to find volunteers because of the amount of training hours required. Proposed Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations increasing the amount of safety training required would add more training requirements and make it harder to find volunteers, Farrin said.
“You are going to lose people if you don’t have some kind of a way of subsidizing it,” Farrin said.
He proposed setting a state-mandated minimum stipend for volunteers every time they are called to action.
Pushing the extremes of both Democrats and Republicans to the negotiating table is one of Farrin’s most important goals, should he get elected.
“If something needs to be done, let’s do it and not be so partisan,” Farrin said.
Farrin’s endorsements include the Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund PAC, the Wabanaki Alliance, and Maine Service Employees Association.
In his spare time, Farrin enjoys camping, kayaking, and watching the Boston Red Sox.
For more information, go to farrin.mainecandidate.com.
The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
