2 Brewer City Council incumbents face challenger

BREWER — A three-way race is shaping up for two City Council seats, both for three years, which will be filled during citywide elections this month. The field of candidates consists of a local business owner, a longtime high school district trustee and a veteran councilor who describes himself as the citizens’ watch dog.

In municipal elections on Tuesday, Oct. 13, incumbent Councilors Eddie Campbell and Larry Doughty will face a challenge from Manley DeBeck Jr., whose third five-year term as a high school district trustee expires this month.

Campbell, 50, is seeking his second council term. Although a relative newcomer to Brewer’s political scene, Campbell’s government experience includes serving as a selectman in Holden for six years, including three years as board chairman, as well as 12 years of service on Holden’s planning board and three years on that town’s zoning board of appeals.

A resident of Eastern Avenue, Campbell owns Campbell Construction, the family business his father established 50 years ago. Among the reasons Campbell is seeking re-election is his desire to put his business experience to work for Brewer.

Campbell said he considers “business sense” as one of the current council’s greatest strengths. He noted that some of the recent changes that City Manager James Kotredes and the council have made in city government were drawn from business.

He cited the return of employee performance reviews — which he said haven’t been done here for a decade — and the city’s ongoing effort to offer bonuses to employees who meet specified “benchmarks,” or goals, as some examples of a businesslike approach to city government.

An initiative Campbell hopes the city will devote its energy to is the area’s fledgling regional marketing campaign. The recently formed Bangor Area Marketing Coalition consisted of 10 muncipalities, Brewer among them, and numerous area institutions.

“Each community has its own strengths. No community has strengths in all areas,” Campbell said. “If communities do not [begin collaborating more], they are just going to be left in a warring state.”

DeBeck, 51, said that he is seeking his first council post because residents of Brewer encouraged him to do so, and because the timing was right for him, with his term as a trustee expiring and his children now grown.

A resident of Goupee Street who works for Eastern Fine Paper, DeBeck said his decision to leave the trustees and run for the council wasn’t easy. “I worked with a lot of good people over the years. It was a hard thing for me to get up and walk away, but I was either going to run now or five years from now. I had to make a choice,” he said.

If elected, DeBeck said, he will focus most of his attention on helping the city’s commercial and industrial tax base grow.

“Economic development — that’s what fires everything. It’s what funds roads, schools and infrastructure,” DeBeck said. “We have to arm [Economic Development Director Les Stevens] with the best tools to do that with,” he said, adding that good schools, recreation programs and neighborhoods were keys to attracting potential investment.

Also critical is the city’s image, he said, noting that recent controversies here have left Brewer with a “less than positive” image.

“I was born and raised in Brewer and it hurts,” said DeBeck. “But that doesn’t mean that if a controversial issue comes up, we should sweep it under the rug.”

He also said that the city must find ways to improve its streets, repair its auditorium and replace its aging public works garage. Of the garage, he said, “It’s an issue that gets hot every once in a while, and it’s time that it is addressed.”

Doughty, 59, is seeking a fifth term on the council, making him the council’s most seasoned member.

“I just want to continue to give the citizens of Brewer the same level of service that I’ve given them for the past 12 years,” said Doughty, a lifelong resident who retired after three decades of service as a state employee assigned to the state liquor store in Brewer.

In addition to his four three-year terms on the council, Doughty has served on the city’s board of appeals and personnel board.

Though Doughty, like his opponents, supports economic development, his personal position on the issue differs somewhat.

“My philosophy is that economic development is necessary but I keep wondering why the taxes still continue to go up and up. Spending is obviously the reason,” Doughty said.

“My biggest priority is watching how money is spent,” he said.

A resident of Goupee Street, Doughty said that he considers his efforts on behalf of his constituents as perhaps his greatest strengths, though he has been criticized by some for not following the city’s chain of command.

Recent months have shown Doughty on the losing side of most of the council’s split votes.

“I’m proud of that. It’s pretty cliquey,” said Doughty of his council colleagues. “I’d just like to think of myself as a watch dog.”

He said he wants to continue serving as a watch dog, but observed that this has become more difficult since the ouster of former City Manager Harold Parks two years ago.

“I feel as though I’ve been excluded. For this councilor to get informaton out of this city manager [Kotredes] has been like pulling teeth,” Doughty said.