House District 46

Camden and Rockport

Republican

Helen A. Shaw

Age: 58

Hometown: Rockport

Address: 77 Pascal Ave.

Education: Bachelor’s in anthropology, Ohio State University; master’s in anthropology, University of Michigan

Family: married; two sons

Occupation: retired research manager; currently working part time as a teacher, lecturer, writer and editor

Experience: more than 20 years as a community activist in Chicago, where I dealt with issues such as development, planning, crime, and historic preservation; appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley to the Lincoln Park Community Conservation Commission; past member, board of trustees, The Catherine Cook School (Chicago); elected to the Rockport Charter Commission, member of the Camden-Rockport Pathways Committee, member of the Rockport Cemetery Committee

Reason for running: I want to make Maine business-friendly. Maine needs more year-round, full-time jobs paying a good wage and benefits. I want to provide more educational opportunities for Mainers of all ages and abilities. I want to cut waste in the state budget so more funds will be available for infrastructure maintenance and repairs and to assist Maine’s most dependent and vulnerable citizens.

Democrat

Joan Welsh

Age: 68

Hometown: Rockport

Address: 54 Sea St.

Education: Bachelor’s in English, University of Colorado; graduate work: University of Colorado, University of Phoenix; executive seminar: Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration; Leadership Maine

Family: single, three children, six grandchildren

Occupation: retired

Experience: 1962-78, homemaker, Boulder, Colo.; 1978-85, founder and executive director, Boulder County Safehouse for battered women and children; also founded, led Colorado Coalition Against Domestic Violence; 1985-91, associate director for Pacific Crest Outward Bound School, Los Angeles and the Colorado Outward Bound School, Denver; 1991-2001, president-CEO, Hurricane Island Outward Bound School, Rockland; 2002-03, director of academic and student affairs, Rockport College, of the Maine Photographic Workshops, Rockport; 2004-07, deputy director, Natural Resources Council of Maine

Reason for running: While working at The Natural Resources Council of Maine, I was able to see, close up, the Legislature at work and the need for members to work better together. I would like to put my 30 years of professional experience bringing groups of people together to solve problems to work for the state of Maine and the people of Camden-Rockport.