March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Incumbent, challenger discuss Senate District 1 issues

FORT KENT — Sen. Raynold Theriault, D-Fort Kent, and Wanda Towns of Van Buren are seeking the Maine Senate District 1 seat, which comprises Caswell, Fort Kent, Frenchville, Grand Isle, Hamlin, Limestone, Madawaska, New Canada, New Sweden, St. Agatha, Stockholm, Van Buren and Wallagrass, Cyr and Woodland Plantations, and Connor, an unorganized township.

Theriault, who is seeking his third senate term, also served three terms in the Maine House of Representatives. He is chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee; a member of the Transportation Committee; and has served on the Education Committee, Audit and Program Review Committee; and the Aging, Retirement and Veterans Committee.

He said he was seeking re-election because he has “something to offer. … My greatest pleasure from serving in the Legislature is being able to assist my constituents with their problems.”

“The major issue in my district is employment. We have an excellent educational system up here (but) what we are doing is preparing (young people) for elsewhere. It is tragic that they have to leave their families and all they are familiar with and (cannot) live here, where they want to be.”

In attracting employers, he said, efforts had focused on the southern part of Maine. “I think we need to change that and look to our north,” he said.

Theriault said he was involved in passing the $20 million bill that created the Maine Health Program for health insurance based on ability to pay. “A lot of families can pay (part of the cost) but can’t pay the whole (premium) and, consequently, go without.”

Theriault said he wanted to “continue to improve our road network. As a member of the Transportation Committee, I make sure that we get our share of the (state’s) highway money” in Aroostook County.

He is credited with creating a commission charged with making long-term plans from highway development, an offshoot of an earlier group he formed to study the feasibility of extending the interstate highway system to the St. John Valley.

The commission established long-term plans. For Aroostook County, he said, the results are major road projects from Houlton to Fort Kent over several years.

He plans to continue “trying to re-establish scheduled air service out of Frenchville,” important from medical emergency and business standpoints. “If we ever expect to have major industry up here, we need an airport,” he said.

Self-employed in the apartment rental business, Theriault has taught in schools and colleges and was a customs inspector. He retired as a National Guard battalion commander after 27 years of service.

He holds a business management degree from Ricker College and a degree in education from the University of Maine at Fort Kent. He is a former Rotarian.

In Fort Kent, he is a member of the Democratic Town Committee, served 10 years on the SAD 27 school board and was a town councilor for five years. He is treasurer for the St. John Valley Democratic Committee.

Theriault lives in Fort Kent with his wife, Cecile. They have five children and nine grandchildren.

Towns said she was running because she had gained, through education and work experience, skills she believes are needed to be a successful “public servant.”

After helping a young woman with a financial aid problem, Towns said, “I’m finding that being a senator is more or less the (combined) job requirements of everything I’ve ever done.”

Towns said her jobs had involved business, public relations, human services and “lots of hard work. And those are all things I enjoy doing — finding ways of getting things done.” She said communication skills were “key requirements for a public servant” because the job involves “helping people make a connection with (what is) currently available. … There are always answers (to problems). We are never really alone.”

“I know how to network,” Towns said. “Jobs I’ve had have prepared me to be a public servant (as has) volunteer work. … My work for the Grand River (Festival) helped me realize the unique needs of the area, that the culture is worth preserving. Being a member of the Aroostook Association (of Chambers of Commerce) gave me an even broader view of the district’s needs.”

Major issues in District 1, Towns said, are underlined by the “whole issue of tax relief for working people and homeowners, including retired homeowners living on fixed incomes.”

“I have the economic well-being of the area at heart,” she said. “I think there are any number of ways to attract business to our area,” which she said would provide a broader tax base and make property tax relief “an achievable goal. … There are other ways to skin a tax bill than having the working man foot the whole bill.”

Also important are affordable housing and housing rehabilitation, and help for the elderly, infants and working single parents, she said.

Towns has an associate degree in liberal arts and attended several colleges and universities in California, Alaska and other areas. She was an honor graduate of the Air Force Administrative School and a graduate of the Air Force Management and Non-Commissioned Officers Leadership schools.

Towns is a licensed psychiatric technician and has worked as a counselor, suicide and crisis prevention volunteer, aerospace and electronics technician, administrative assistant and legal secretary.

She is a member of the National Rifle Association, the American Legion, SAD 24’s Crusaders Booster Club, the National Association of Female Executives and the Loring Air Force Base Women’s Bowling Association and takes part in Maine Street ’90 events. She was a member of the Aroostook Association of Chambers of Commerce, the Maine Association of Chamber Executives, the Van Buren Chamber of Commerce and the Grand River Brochure Committee.

Towns is retired from the Air Force and works as a legal secretary and an office manager for a local engineering firm. She lives in Van Buren with her husband, Clinton. They have five children and three grandchildren.


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