Candidates make pitch for local votes

By Ed Pierce

Voting is the expression of a community’s commitment to their neighbors and to one another and here in Windham and Raymond, that allegiance will once again be demonstrated on Tuesday, Nov. 8 when area residents head to the polls to cast their ballots in state and local races.

Candidate signs for the upcoming election proliferate
on the median at the intersection of School Road and 
Route 202 in Windham. The general election across 
Maine will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8. 
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE

One elected position to be determined is Maine Senate District 26 representing Windham and Raymond, where current the incumbent, Bill Diamond, a Democrat from Windham, is term-limited and his seat will be filled by either Gary Plummer of Windham, a Republican, or Tim Nangle of Windham, a Democrat.

Plummer is a lifelong resident of Windham and a retired teacher who has served on the Windham Town Council, the Cumberland County Commission, as a Maine State Representative and in the Maine State Senate. Nangle is a former Windham Town Councilor who works as a Help Desk Technician.

Three seats in the Maine House of Representatives will also be decided by voters in the election.

For Maine House District 86, representing Raymond, Casco, Frye Island, and part of Poland, two candidates are on the ballot. Jessica Fay of Raymond, a Democrat, is a florist and an incumbent seeking re-election in a newly renumbered district. Fay is opposed by Republican Greg Foster of Raymond, a forester and business owner.

In Windham, two candidates are vying to represent Windham in Maine House District 107, which has been renumbered but is the seat being vacated by current State Rep. Patrick Corey, who also is term-limited and cannot seek re-election this election cycle. Newcomer Michael Hall of Windham, a Republican, is a project manager and supervisor for a biotechnology company and a small business owner who is opposed by former State Representative Jane Pringle of Windham, a Democrat. Pringle is a retired primary care physician and physician educator who served in the Maine Legislature from 2012 to 2014.

Two candidates are competing for the right to represent Windham in the newly renumbered Maine House District 106. Democrat Mark Bryant has represented this district in the past but also is term-limited for this election. Barbara Bagshaw of Windham, a Republican and an art educator and nanny, is opposed by Democrat Dana Reed of Windham, a retired U.S. Navy chaplain and a music educator.

Campaigning for election to a five-year term as a Portland Water District Trustee representing Windham and Raymond is Louise Douglas of Windham. Douglas was first elected to the Portland Water District board in 2017 and has served as the Portland Water District’s Trustees chair for the past two years.

Several RSU 14 Board of Directors seats are on the ballot in November.

Voters will choose two individuals to serve in three-year positions on the RSU 14 Board of Directors representing Windham from a field of three candidates.

Incumbent Marge Govoni of Windham, who is retired, is the former RSU 14 board chair and is seeking re-election. Govoni has served on the RSU 14 Board of Directors since 2008 and is a member of the Windham Planning Board and one of the founders of the Windham Community Garden.

Former board member Christina Small of Windham also is a candidate for the RSU 14 Board. She was first appointed to a seat on the board in 2020 to fill a vacancy and served through 2021. She is the noon monitor at Windham Primary School.

First-time candidate Caitlynn Downs of Windham is also running for one of the available RSU 14 Board of Directors seats. Downs is an office manager for State Farm Insurance and has volunteered as a Big Sister with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Organization for more than 10 years and was honored as the organization’s “Match of the Year” in 2019.

All three candidates on the ballot for Windham Town Council are unopposed.

John Henry of Windham is running for an At-Large position for town council for a three-year term. He is a civil engineer and formerly served as a member of the Windham Planning Board in 2007.

Current Windham Town Council Chair Jarrod Maxfield is unopposed for re-election to represent the town’s North District for a three-year term. Maxfield is a business owner who has served as a town councilor since 2016.
Nicholas Kalogerakis is unopposed for re-election to a three-year term on the council representing the South District. He is a businessman who has served on the town council since 2019. He’s also served on the town’s Long Range Planning Committee, the Windham Economic Committee, and the Windham Planning Board. <

Editor’s note: Please see candidate profiles and Q&A in this edition for State Senate and Maine House candidates from Windham and Raymond. Next week’s newspaper will include candidate profiles for RSU 14’s Board of Directors and the Windham Town Council.

Raymond could donate land for site of new community middle school

If RSU 14's Board of Directors accepts a proposal from the 
town of Raymond to donate a 45-acre tract near the Windham
town line for a new middle school site, Jordan-Small Middle
School could close and Raymond students would attend a
combined middle school with Windham students when the 
new school is built and opened in 2026.
PHOTO BY ED PIERCE   

By Ed Pierce

The lingering issue for RSU 14 about where to locate the site of the new middle school could be a bit clearer following Tuesday night’s meeting of the Raymond Select Board as members voted unanimously to recommend sending students to the new school when it opens in 2026.

Raymond Town Manager Don Willard said that Raymond Select Board members also voted to recommend to the RSU 14 Board of Directors to provide up to 45 acres of town-owned property at no cost for the site of the new school near the border with Windham and on a proposed connector route.     

“This gift is contingent upon and subject to a Special Town Meeting approval as a part of the next Board of Selectmen meeting on Nov. 9 and that the property naturally is to be used as the site of the new school,” Willard said.

The Maine Board of Education has greenlighted construction of a new middle school for Windham and RSU 14 is currently in the process of seeking a site to locate the new school.  

The original Windham Middle School was completed in 1977 and was built for a capacity of 483 students.  In the past year, that number has grown to 636 students, with sixth graders being housed for some classes at the adjacent Field Allen School, originally constructed in 1949.

During a Raymond Board of Selectmen meeting in September, RSU 14 Representative Mike McClellan of Raymond briefed select board members that the state has asked if Raymond would join Windham in sending students to the new school.

McClellan said that if Raymond chose not to do this, it is unlikely that the state would eventually approve new middle school construction for Raymond in the future replacing Jordan-Small Middle School, which now has 192 students total and was built in 1960.

RSU 14 Superintendent Christopher Howell also attended that meeting and told Select Board members that the idea of sending Raymond students to the new Windham Middle School was not part of an agenda to close Jordan-Small Middle School. 

Howell said the state is looking to combine smaller schools and renovations for Jordan-Small Middle School will still be included in the RSU budget, but the state will be unlikely to approve funding for any new construction.

Should Raymond residents decide to send its middle school students to the new school, the Jordan-Small Middle School building will revert to ownership of the town.

“Over the two nights of the public hearings, there were roughly 30 individuals from the public who attended.  A majority of those who spoke at the meetings were in favor of keeping JSMS open,” Howell said. “The two straw polls that were taken also supported the idea of keeping the building open.”

According to Howell, the Raymond Select Board’s vote is one step in this process and will be considered by the RSU 14 board as they make this decision.

“I anticipate a decision by the RSU board in early November,” Howell said.

The discussion about the fate of Jordan-Small Middle School comes on the heels of the 2020 referendum in the town of Raymond to withdraw from RSU 14. In that vote, Raymond residents rejected withdrawing from RSU 14 to form its own school district with 2,047 voters saying no to the proposal and 1,018 voting to withdraw. It was the second time in five years that Raymond voters formally rejected a measure to withdraw from RSU 14 with the other rejection taking place in 2015.

“Throughout the public hearings, families shared that they liked being part of the RSU.  Additionally, many shared that they liked the small school feel of Jordan-Small,” Howell said. “Throughout that process, the RSU reiterated that there were not any plans to close the building as part of any district restructuring.  The question facing the town of Raymond is about whether they should be part of this opportunity that has been given to the district.  I feel that I can move forward with a decision that is made in either direction.”

He said that if a decision is made by the RSU 14 Board of Directors board to consolidate, the project’s architects will begin the process of programming for a larger school.

“If the decision is made to keep the building open, we will keep moving forward with the plan to complete the revolving renovation upgrades to Jordan-Small Middle School,” Howell said. “Windham Middle School will continue moving forward as a single-town middle school.” <

Slate of candidates set for Windham town election in November

The field of declared candidates has been finalized for
Windham's town and state election to be held on Tuesday,
Nov. 2 in the Windham High School Auxiliary Gym. Voters
will fill three town council seats, two RSU 14 Board of 
Directors positions and the Windham Town Clerk position
in the election. FILE PHOTO  

By Ed Pierce

The list of candidates for public office in Windham has been finalized and includes a few incumbents seeking re-election and some new faces hoping to obtain enough votes to be elected to available positions.

After filing paperwork with the town clerk’s office by the established deadline of Sept. 3, the candidates will now embark upon their campaigns after being officially placed on the ballot by Windham Town Clerk Linda S. Morrell.

The election will be on Tuesday, Nov. 2 in the Auxiliary Gym at Windham High School. Polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Morrell said that as of Tuesday, there are 14,447 registered voters in Windham, but she’s not expecting a large turnout for this election.

“I would expect between the absentees and in-person voting at the polls about 2,500 to 3,800 votes which has been the turnout in the past,” Morrell said. “If anything brings them out, it will be Question 1 on the state ballot. I don’t think the candidate ballot will generate too much interest.”

Question 1 on the state ballot asks voters if they want to ban the construction of high-impact electric transmission lines in the Upper Kennebec Region and to require the Maine Legislature to approve all other such projects anywhere in Maine, both retroactively to 2020, and to require the legislature, retroactively to 2014, to approve by a two-thirds vote such projects using public land.

Local candidates on the November ballot include incumbent David J. Nadeau, who is running unopposed for the Windham Town Council’s At-Large seat for a three-year term.    

Nadeau currently serves as the chair of the Windham Town Council and has been a town councilor for 10 years and previously spent 10 years as a member of Windham’s Planning Board. He was a recipient of the Maine Planners Association’s Citizen Award in 2020 for his long-term vision for the community, volunteerism, mentoring other volunteers and elected officials as well as going above and beyond in understanding planning initiatives and goals of Windham’s future success.

Incumbent Edward M. Ohmott is seeking a one-year term on the council for an At-Large position.

Ohmott was appointed to fill the At-Large vacancy on the council during a meeting on May 25 following the resignation of Councilor David Douglass.

He previously served on Windham’s Smith Cemetery Committee and Long-Range Planning Committee. Since his appointment to the council, Ohmott has been a member of the town’s Marijuana License Fee Committee.

He’s the former president of Champion Cordage, an industrial supplies and equipment firm in California.

No declared candidate filed paperwork for the Windham Town Council’s West District for a three-year term. The position is currently held by Timothy Nangle, but he did not file papers for re-election. Nangle has been serving as the council’s parliamentarian. 

Morrell, Windham’s longtime Town Clerk, filed paperwork seeking re-election to the position. Morrell originally spent eight years as a ballot clerk during Windham elections, then worked as a deputy clerk for the Town of Windham for seven years. She has served the last 27 years as Windham’s Town Clerk overseeing elections and the town clerk’s office at the Windham Town Hall. 

Incumbents Jennie Butler and Christina Small are seeking re-election for three-year terms as RSU 14 board directors. Two seats on the board are up for grabs with six declared candidates.

Butler taught math at the high school level for 31 years and part-time at the University of Southern Maine. She has formerly been a candidate for the Maine Legislature.

She’s known for her belief that Maine needs to provide a well-rounded education for jobs which will bring young families to Windham and says an excellent education is needed for good paying jobs which include skilled trades and for jobs that don’t exist yet.    

Small was appointed to the school board in early 2020 and is a stay-at-home mom who has lived in Windham for eight years.

Small says she believes public education is an investment and was proud to work with the board to create a responsible budget that voters approved even amid the economic uncertainty brought on by the pandemic.  Her priorities include helping to align RSU 14’s procedures with ever-changing regulatory guidelines, and continuation of the district’s Social Emotional Learning work.  

Also vying for seats on the board are Barbara Bagshaw; Jessica M.H. Bridges; Carrie S. Grant; and Michael Pasquini.

The Windham Eagle will offer an in-depth look of all declared candidates prior to the election. <