Madawaska residents square off in House District 149 race

MADAWASKA — Two Madawaska residents, Rep. Edward McHenry, D-Madawaska, and Republican Jacqueline Dumais, are seeking the House of Representatives District 149 seat, which represents residents of Grand Isle, Madawaska, Perham, Wade and Westmanland, and the unorganized territories of Guerette, Madawaska Lake and Sinclair, in next week’s election.

Looking for a ninth House term, McHenry has served on the Joint Standing Committee on Labor for six terms, the past two terms as chairman, and Utilities, six terms. He also served four terms on the Local County Government Committee, two as chairman; on the House Committee on Elections; and was chairman of the Bills in Second Reading Committee.

He said he “likes being a state representative.” He said he was “the only state representative in Aroostook County” who was a committee chairman because he had served so many terms.

“A majority of people and bureaucrats know me, and the politicians all know me and they respect me for my straightforwardness and honesty,” he said.

He said a major issue in District 149, home to Fraser Paper Ltd. in Madawaska, is enacting a bill “that would address the problem of strikebreakers. … I’ll keep trying because (as it is now) there is no negotiating. … Take it or leave it, and if you leave it, you’re out of a job.”

Also important are property-tax relief and affordable insurance. He plans to tackle both in a proposal in which the state would pay part of its residents’ health insurance tab. Residents’ cost would be based on a formula using, among other things, statewide gross income and property tax averages.

He said an important part of his duties was “helping people that need help. I get many calls for assistance. … It’s awful hard for my constituents to get to Augusta. (While there) I act as if they’re all right behind me.”

Among his accomplishments, he said, are the passage of his bill to clarify referendum questions; work on a drug testing bill; his role in introducing Atlantic salmon to the Upper St. John River; and the recognition of Canadian doctors who write prescriptions for American patients.

McHenry said he successfully worked to locate La Maison Acadienne, a facility for the elderly, and the Madawaska Outpatient Center in Madawaska and prevented the closing of the court building in Madawaska. He also helped Fraser Paper Ltd. with tax exemptions and Workers’ Compensation insurance.

Although categorized as a “labor person only,” he said he worked for all who asked him for help.

McHenry is employed at Fraser Paper Ltd.

Dumais, who attempted to unseat McHenry two years ago, said, “I am running because I want to give the people a choice.” She said the June primary race between McHenry and Ginette Perreault, also of Madawaska, was “a close call. … It shows the importance of voting.”

Among the issues of importance in District 149, she said, are legislative representation for local businesses and creating incentives to attract new industry. “I think we should capitalize on the fact that our district is in an excellent position to (benefit) from the Free Trade Agreement,” Dumais said. “We’re right on the border.”

“Our people want to work, and a lot of people want to return to our area for the quality of life here, but they can’t do it (without jobs),” she said.

“I’m concerned with the struggle of the individual (and) finding the needs of the people and representing them,” she said. “Other things that need to be looked at are affordable housing and health care.

“There is a gap of available quality housing (and) a lot of people don’t qualify for (low-income housing projects). A lot of these are empty-nesters, whose families are grown and moved away. They have supported their communities and paid taxes their whole life and they deserve good, affordable housing.”

She said, “Family sizes are changing due to families’ not staying together.” Some affected groups are widows, singles and divorced people, some of whom lack affordable housing because of “circumstances beyond their control.”

A state representative must “be sensitive to a lot of different needs,” she said. She believes her life experiences and contact with people who have expressed their needs will help make her a good representative.

On health care, Dumais said many district residents are elderly or are not covered under group plans and must pay high premiums for medical insurance. Particularly at risk are part-time and seasonal workers. “Consequently, some people who need to be insured are uninsured. They can’t afford it.”

She is also sensitive to the needs of the elderly. “On a personal level, I’ve had to come to terms with a family member stricken by Alzheimer’s disease. Many people who have been independent all their lives now need help.”

Dumais has worked as a radio station accounts representative, a receptionist and interviewer for the Maine Job Service, a police receptionist and dispatcher, and was self-employed in a marketing business. She also was a nurse’s aid before and during a two-year program at Pierce Secretarial School in Boston.

She has done volunteer work for her church parish, helped organize activities for a singles’ support group, served as den mother for the Girl Scouts, and served on a Northern Maine Regional Planning Commission committee on tourism.

She is a full-time student at the University of Maine at Fort Kent, where she is pursuing a degree in business management. She has three children.