By Abigail W. Adams
Three residents have stepped forward to vie for two seats on the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen. Chair Pam Dunning and Selectman Tim Merry are not seeking re-election.
Business owner and Wiscasset Public Library assistant librarian William David Cherry, former Selectman Judy Flanagan, and former Wiscasset Municipal Airport Manager Ervin Deck are in the running to fill the vacant seats.
The two candidates with the most votes will win the election. Also on the ballot for municipal officials are Eugene Stover and Glen Craig, who are running unopposed for school committee; Phil Di Vece, who is running unopposed for water district trustee; and Kristin Drapper, the only candidate for seven seats on the budget committee.
Voting for municipal officials will occur at the referendum town meeting Tuesday, June 9. Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Wiscasset Community Center.
William David Cherry
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William David Cherry traveled the country with his partner after decades of living in California in search of a new place to call home. They found Wiscasset. “Strangers smiled and said hello to each other,” Cherry said. In 2002, the couple decided to move. “It was because of the people,” Cherry said.
Cherry has worked in diverse professions. He earned a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University, where he specialized in socio-economic-political development.
Cherry’s professional career, however, diverged from his educational training. Brought to California by a family situation, Cherry launched a consulting business and newsletter for nonprofits, the Philanthropy Resource Newsletter, which provided nonprofits with technical assistance for fundraising and board development.
Launched in the 1980s, Cherry’s newsletter and consulting service was one of the few resources available to nonprofits at the time. “I saw a need, so I decided to fill it,” Cherry said. After over 10 years, Cherry decided to move on. He worked for the next 15 years in medical research with Kaiser Permanente before moving to Wiscasset.
While in Wiscasset, Cherry launched a business, Miss Kittie’s Cakes, inspired by the recipes of his maternal grandmother. Before the recession, Miss Kittie’s Cakes distributed its homemade cakes and pies to approximately 17 restaurants in the Midcoast region – many of which went out of business or downsized as a result of the global economic crisis.
Miss Kittie’s Cakes still distributes its cakes and pies, which include the hard-to-find chocolate custard pie and chess pie, a sugar custard pie, to three local restaurants.
Out of all of Cherry’s diverse professions, however, his favorite job has been as an assistant librarian at Wiscasset Public Library. “It’s a wonderful and vibrant community, not just a job. It’s a place where you never stop learning,” Cherry said.
Cherry decided to run for selectman because he believes he has something to offer the town. “I’m from away and always will be,” Cherry said. “But I love this town and I feel there’s something I can bring to the table.”
According to Cherry, Wiscasset is a “well-spring of potential,” both economically and culturally. For Cherry, when economic development is done right, it supports both economic and cultural development. Such development is something Cherry hopes to encourage if elected to the board of selectmen.
Cherry noted the Mason Station property as a perfect location for such development and sees it as a tangible location to help unleash Wiscasset’s potential. For Cherry, taxes remain one of the largest issues facing Wiscasset. Figuring out how to balance the provision of municipal services with a reasonable tax rate will be a challenge, Cherry said.
Cherry is particularly concerned with the revenue stream and revenue sharing coming out of Augusta and would like to do what he can to encourage more stable state funding for municipalities.
Cherry noted many local controversies surrounding funding for municipal services or infrastructure repairs would be less heated if there was stable state funding.
If elected selectman, Cherry said he would do what he can to ensure a responsive town government that represents the greatest number of people in town. “I want to make sure no one gets left behind,” Cherry said.
Ervin Deck
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Ervin Deck traveled the world during his approximately 30-year career with the Navy, where he earned the rank of lieutenant commander. Out of all the places he has been, Wiscasset is where he decided he wanted to be.
Deck moved to Wiscasset with his wife in 1996 and soon after became involved with the Wiscasset Municipal Airport.
Deck served on the airport committee and, in 2008, was hired as airport manager. Under Deck’s leadership, the Wiscasset Municipal Airport blossomed. The airport was previously divided between its municipal function and its fixed-base operation, or business end.
Wiscasset took over the airport’s fixed-base operations in 2010, and, through Deck’s guidance, transformed the struggling business end of the airport into a profitable enterprise. When Deck assumed the role of airport manager in 2008, revenue was approximately $32,000, The Lincoln County News previously reported.
Revenue increased to a height of $340,000 in 2014. The airport is now largely self-sufficient in its operational and maintenance costs. Deck spearheaded efforts to revamp the airport’s infrastructure. He remodeled the airport’s headquarters, ramped up customer services, and arranged for desperately needed repairs for the runway.
Deck resigned from his position as airport manager in December – his last day was Jan. 31. In his resignation letter, Deck was open about issues the airport now faces due to non-action by selectmen decades ago.
In order to continue to be able to access Federal Aviation Administration funds and repave the runway, the airport must negotiate with its neighbor, Chewonki Campground, over trees growing into the airport’s protected airspace and camp sites in an area designated the runway protection zone.
“They didn’t do a long-term assessment of what the airport needed,” Deck said. Due to the lack of long-term analysis, the airport and campground are now in conflict.
Those long-range forecasts and assessments of future infrastructure needs are something Deck will be able to offer if elected to the board of selectmen. As a senior aviation planner with Stantec Inc., a consulting firm for infrastructure projects, Deck develops forecasts for short- and long-term infrastructure needs.
Deck decided to throw his hat in the ring for the same reason he initially became involved with the airport – to stay involved with the community. He is concerned with taxes and the status of Wiscasset’s infrastructure – in particular infrastructure issues discovered at Wiscasset’s school buildings.
If elected, Deck said he hopes to bring fresh eyes and a fresh perspective to the issues Wiscasset faces. Deck would like to see more economic development in Wiscasset to take the burden off the property owner. He also pointed out Wiscasset’s traffic issues were a deterrent to attracting businesses to Wiscasset.
The largest problem Deck sees in Wiscasset, however, is the lack of community involvement with town government. If elected selectman, Deck hopes to reach out to the community and engage it in the debate about the town’s future.
Deck said he is looking forward to becoming involved and working with the community. “I’m a big believer in the constitution and in our liberties,” Deck said. “When you don’t get involved, you give those liberties up.”
Deck said he does not necessarily have the answers to the problems Wiscasset faces, but he intends to take a fresh look at the issues, and hopes to engage people on all sides of the table in conversation. “If anything, get out and vote,” Deck said.
Judy Flanagan
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Judy Flanagan was born and raised in Wiscasset and, in turn, chose to raise her three children in Wiscasset, some of whom, in turn, are now raising their children in Wiscasset. Flanagan has worked as a reporter, educator, and child librarian, served on a variety of municipal boards, and supported numerous charitable efforts in Wiscasset.
Flanagan received a Bachelor of Science degree in math secondary education from the University of Southern Maine. She has worked as an education technician at various points in time at the Wiscasset Primary School.
She also worked, more recently, as the children’s librarian at the Wiscasset Public Library – a job she loved, she said. “There’s nothing like watching the light go on in a kid,” Flanagan said. “To turn them on to reading.”
Her work as a reporter, however, got her interested and involved in town government. “I caught the bug,” Flanagan said. Flanagan served on the board of selectmen in the 1980s and again in the early 2000s.
She was the first woman elected to the board of selectmen in Wiscasset’s history and the first woman to be elected chair of the board. Flanagan has also served on the budget committee and the comprehensive plan committee, among others.
Flanagan is also active with food banks and with Feed Our Scholars, the community program that provides needy families with food. While critically important work, Flanagan said she recognizes emergency food programs are a temporary fix for a larger economic problem.
“What we need are jobs so people can support their families,” Flanagan said.
Flanagan has witnessed some dramatic changes in Wiscasset in her years involved with municipal affairs. Flanagan served on the committee that guided the town in its change of government from a three-person select board to a five-person select board with a town manager.
She also personally experienced the impact of the closure of Maine Yankee on Wiscasset’s property taxes. “It was quite an adjustment and we’re still adjusting,” Flanagan said.
Flanagan decided to run again because she knew, after her last term on the board, it was something she wanted to do again. According to Flanagan, for a small town, the amount of services Wiscasset provides is part of what makes it special.
“I’m not a spendthrift,” Flanagan said. “We need to be conservative but also forward-thinking.” For Flanagan, the question is not how do we reduce the tax rate for next year, but what economic activity can be brought in to reduce taxes over the long term while preserving services.
“We have such potential,” Flanagan said. “We live in a community made up of such smart, talented, and caring people. I want to help us work towards our potential and move the town forward in a positive way.”
