By David Harry
Staff Writer

Name: Joanne Twomey
Age: 65
Address: 246 Elm St.
Phone number: 286-9385
Family: Widowed, two grown sons
Email address/web site: www.joannetwomey.com
Occupation: Mayor of Biddeford
Previous political experience: Two terms as mayor of Biddeford, eight years in Maine House of Representatives, six years on Biddeford City Council

For Biddeford Mayor Joanne Twomey, it is all about being there.
“I’m the people’s mayor. I don’t need an iPhone and computer when they come through the door,” said Twomey, opposed by Maine Rep. Alan Casavant (D-Biddeford), in her attempt to win a third two-year term.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. next Tuesday. Ward 1 and Ward 2 residents vote at Knights of Columbus Hall on Pool Street. Residents of wards 3, 4 and 5 can vote at J. Richard Martin Community Center Gym on Prospect Street. Ward 6 and Ward 7 residents vote at Rochambeau Club at 329 South St.
Twomey, 65, is visible and voluble as she presides over City Council and School Committee meetings. She said being mayor is a fulltime job, not one to be done while serving in the Legislature as Casavant said he will do as mayor.
Casavant has vowed to “return civility to city hall.” Twomey said she has never regretted showing her support or passion for any issue.
“I don’t know how to be anything else,” Twomey said. “I am full of love for my community and my life. I am not going to apologize for caring.”
Her decision to seek a third term stems from what Twomey sees as unfinished business – restoring Biddeford’s economic health. A big part of the solution is Biddeford Downs, she said.
“I’m not a gaming girl myself,” Twomey said. “But the fact is, the revenue is gone.”
Casavant has criticized Twomey for not revealing more details about racino development plans, but Twomey said no negotiations will begin until voter approval is secured.
She said her constant support for the racino and for cleaner air emissions from Maine Energy Recovery Co. set her apart from Casavant, who worked to bring the trash to energy facility to Biddeford and voted against Biddeford Downs in the Legislature.
Twomey also said she stands behind an Aug. 17 e-mail she sent to city employees outlining why she was running again.
 “This is not about any re-election, this is from my heart,” she wrote, and continued to say the racino “is the only thing coming to this city with that kind of revenue, the people of this city spoke and now I will try to deliver that promise.”
The e-mail discusses conditions at City Hall and asks employees “to have faith we can change this … I do not have the heart or stomach to let people go.”
Twomey said her style was honed while fighting for improved air quality in emissions from Maine Energy Recovery Co.
“We should be known as a college town. Instead, we are known as a trash city because of the incinerator,” she said.
Plain speaking helped get the $32 million bond to renovate Biddeford High School passed in 2009, Twomey said.
“People told me I could never deliver it. There were no leaders ahead of me who wanted to tackle it,” she said.
Improvements at the high school and reductions in state education subsidies are part of the reason Twomey said she opposes creating a charter school in Biddeford.
A charter school could provide free, possibly alternative education for city students, but at a cost Twomey said she cannot support.
“It will pull away from public schools, we have already cut back every year,” she said.

Staff Writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.