Former deputy mayor eyes Saco mayor's office
As Mayor Roland Michaud runs for a second term in city hall, he is being challenged by Councilor Roland "Ron" Morton, who served one year as deputy mayor.
Roland Michaud, incumbent
Age: 62
Address: 143 Bayview Road
Phone number: 283-1698
Family: Married for 35 years to Hilda; two children, Chris and Katherine, and one grandchild, Hope.
Education: BS degree, Keene State College, 1974
Previous political experience: Served 14 years on Saco City Council and last two years as mayor. Also, chairman of the Saco-Dayton Union 7 School Board, 2007 to 2009.
Why are you running for the office? When I first moved to Saco 35 years ago, I immediately fell in love with it. I quickly realized that we have beautiful beaches, a dynamic downtown, an active business community and an excellent educational system. For 20 years I have served on the planning board, council and now as mayor, and have always been committed to the idea that we can protect what we value while continuing to move forward in an ever-changing economic environment. I have come to appreciate that what makes Saco such a great place to live and work are the people who live here. Countless individuals give of their time and effort in working together to shape our community, guide our children and reach out to those who need a helping hand. It is this spirit of community that makes serving so satisfying. It is an honor to be entrusted with the responsibility of representing our great city.
What are the attributes and skills that qualify you for this position? I believe an elected official has to be open and honest. Government must be a process where all are invited to participate and where participation is valued. I recognize that I don’t have all of the answers, but I know that by working together we can make Saco the best city in Maine.
What are the top three issues facing Saco and how will you address them? The most critical challenge we face is dealing with the troubled economy. With revenue losses expected to continue we need to find ways grow our local economy and to reduce expenses. Steps we have taken to foster growth include developing a new industrial park, extending the sewer in the Route 1 corridor, building a state of the art train station, completing our Main Street improvements and working with local tourism interest to attract a greater number of visitors to our community. Over the past two years, we have worked relentlessly to maintain a stable municipal property tax rate and have aggressively pursued state and federal grants. We will, however, need to rethink how we provide services and continue to find new ways to join with our neighbors in cooperative agreements to help reduce overhead cost and increase efficiencies.
A new challenge we face is how to address impacts that can occur when historic homes are removed from our downtown and replaced with big box stores. Clearly this will be a difficult and contentious issue as it has the potential to permanently alter our downtown. Some will argue that this is economic development. You don’t have to look far to find communities who initially agreed with this perspective and watched as their downtowns fell into disrepair. They are now discovering that the road back to a vibrant downtown is long and hard, if not impossible. The many years of effort and hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in making Main Street what it is today are at risk if we fail to find a way to protect what makes Saco a unique community.
We must also find a way to finally address and resolve the MERC issue. If our downtown is to achieve its true potential, the MERC era must end.
Lastly, we need to create a mechanism for the long-term protection of Saco Bay. I believe it is vitally important that local communities develop a common understanding of what uses are appropriate in the Bay and that we work together to ensure that potential developments are viewed from a regional perspective. To that end, we recently extended an invitation to our neighbors asking that they join us in working to ensure that the beauty and vitality of Saco Bay is preserved for future generations.
If elected, what will you do in your first month in office? I will continue to do what I have always done: encourage public participation, listen to voter concerns and suggestions and continue the never-ending process of moving our community forward. My goal has always been to make Saco a better place to live in for those who will come after us.
Ronald (Ron) Morton
Age: 68
Address: 28 Clayton Drive
Phone number: 284-4023
Family: Wife Joan; three children and two step-children; five grandchildren.
Education: Some college
Occupation: Sales consultant at Seacoast RVs Inc.; retired from McDonald Investment of Saco and IBM Corporation of Portland.
Previous political experience: SAD 6 School Board, six years, two years as chairman; Saco/Union 7 School Board, seven years, two years as chairman; Saco City Council, four years, one year as deputy mayor.
What are the attributes and skills that qualify you for this position? I believe with my business skills in the private sector that I can provide the leadership to increase revenue while maintaining Saco’s leadership in pursuing new energy alternatives and environmental resource impacts; and maintaining Saco as a desirable place to live for all income levels with affordable housing alternatives. Fiscal conservative, results oriented, proven leadership skills.
What are the top three issue facing Saco and how will you address them? 1. Increasing revenue by other means than raising taxes. Go after new businesses for Saco by becoming more business friendly. 2. Developing and finding housing alternatives for middle income working families and seniors who live on fixed incomes. 3. Cost of providing services for the taxpaying citizens of Saco. Look for ways to increase revenue to the city without raising taxes and consolidation of resource where it makes sense relative to economics and personnel.
If elected, what will you do in your first month in office? The first month in office I will meet with local businesses to receive input and ideas on making Saco more business friendly and what steps can be taken to lure businesses to come to Saco.
Roland Michaud, incumbent
Age: 62
Address: 143 Bayview Road
Phone number: 283-1698
Family: Married for 35 years to Hilda; two children, Chris and Katherine, and one grandchild, Hope.
Education: BS degree, Keene State College, 1974
Previous political experience: Served 14 years on Saco City Council and last two years as mayor. Also, chairman of the Saco-Dayton Union 7 School Board, 2007 to 2009.
Why are you running for the office? When I first moved to Saco 35 years ago, I immediately fell in love with it. I quickly realized that we have beautiful beaches, a dynamic downtown, an active business community and an excellent educational system. For 20 years I have served on the planning board, council and now as mayor, and have always been committed to the idea that we can protect what we value while continuing to move forward in an ever-changing economic environment. I have come to appreciate that what makes Saco such a great place to live and work are the people who live here. Countless individuals give of their time and effort in working together to shape our community, guide our children and reach out to those who need a helping hand. It is this spirit of community that makes serving so satisfying. It is an honor to be entrusted with the responsibility of representing our great city.
What are the attributes and skills that qualify you for this position? I believe an elected official has to be open and honest. Government must be a process where all are invited to participate and where participation is valued. I recognize that I don’t have all of the answers, but I know that by working together we can make Saco the best city in Maine.
What are the top three issues facing Saco and how will you address them? The most critical challenge we face is dealing with the troubled economy. With revenue losses expected to continue we need to find ways grow our local economy and to reduce expenses. Steps we have taken to foster growth include developing a new industrial park, extending the sewer in the Route 1 corridor, building a state of the art train station, completing our Main Street improvements and working with local tourism interest to attract a greater number of visitors to our community. Over the past two years, we have worked relentlessly to maintain a stable municipal property tax rate and have aggressively pursued state and federal grants. We will, however, need to rethink how we provide services and continue to find new ways to join with our neighbors in cooperative agreements to help reduce overhead cost and increase efficiencies.
A new challenge we face is how to address impacts that can occur when historic homes are removed from our downtown and replaced with big box stores. Clearly this will be a difficult and contentious issue as it has the potential to permanently alter our downtown. Some will argue that this is economic development. You don’t have to look far to find communities who initially agreed with this perspective and watched as their downtowns fell into disrepair. They are now discovering that the road back to a vibrant downtown is long and hard, if not impossible. The many years of effort and hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in making Main Street what it is today are at risk if we fail to find a way to protect what makes Saco a unique community.
We must also find a way to finally address and resolve the MERC issue. If our downtown is to achieve its true potential, the MERC era must end.
Lastly, we need to create a mechanism for the long-term protection of Saco Bay. I believe it is vitally important that local communities develop a common understanding of what uses are appropriate in the Bay and that we work together to ensure that potential developments are viewed from a regional perspective. To that end, we recently extended an invitation to our neighbors asking that they join us in working to ensure that the beauty and vitality of Saco Bay is preserved for future generations.
If elected, what will you do in your first month in office? I will continue to do what I have always done: encourage public participation, listen to voter concerns and suggestions and continue the never-ending process of moving our community forward. My goal has always been to make Saco a better place to live in for those who will come after us.
Ronald (Ron) Morton
Age: 68
Address: 28 Clayton Drive
Phone number: 284-4023
Family: Wife Joan; three children and two step-children; five grandchildren.
Education: Some college
Occupation: Sales consultant at Seacoast RVs Inc.; retired from McDonald Investment of Saco and IBM Corporation of Portland.
Previous political experience: SAD 6 School Board, six years, two years as chairman; Saco/Union 7 School Board, seven years, two years as chairman; Saco City Council, four years, one year as deputy mayor.
What are the attributes and skills that qualify you for this position? I believe with my business skills in the private sector that I can provide the leadership to increase revenue while maintaining Saco’s leadership in pursuing new energy alternatives and environmental resource impacts; and maintaining Saco as a desirable place to live for all income levels with affordable housing alternatives. Fiscal conservative, results oriented, proven leadership skills.
What are the top three issue facing Saco and how will you address them? 1. Increasing revenue by other means than raising taxes. Go after new businesses for Saco by becoming more business friendly. 2. Developing and finding housing alternatives for middle income working families and seniors who live on fixed incomes. 3. Cost of providing services for the taxpaying citizens of Saco. Look for ways to increase revenue to the city without raising taxes and consolidation of resource where it makes sense relative to economics and personnel.
If elected, what will you do in your first month in office? The first month in office I will meet with local businesses to receive input and ideas on making Saco more business friendly and what steps can be taken to lure businesses to come to Saco.
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