Two Saco residents face off in primary for Democratic nod for County Commissioner

Incumbent Allen Sicard and former legislator Justin Chenette will face off for the Democratic nod for the District 3 York County Board of Commissioners seat at the June 14 primary.

The winner of the June 14 primary will run unopposed in November for the four-year term, as there is no Republican candidate.

The district will serve Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Buxton and Hollis. Dayton is being removed from District 3 as part of a state-wide redistricting based on census data.

Candidates, in alphabetical order by last name:

Justin Chenette lives in Saco and is married to Eduard Chenette. He is the communications and public relations director for a statewide mental health organization.

Chenette served as a state senator from 2016 to 2020 and state representative from 2012 to 2016. He served on the State Board of Education from 2008-2009, and was appointed by Governor John Baldacci as the first student member. He currently serves on the Maine Right to Know Advisory Committee and Maine-Canadian Legislative Advisory Commission, appointed by Senate President Troy Jackson, and is an elected member of the Democratic State Committee.

He said as a legislator, he valued input from his constituents, and fells county government must increase access, transparency, and engagement in the decision-making process and improve accountability.

“Today, county government has become Maine’s lost level of government,” said Chenette.

Chentte said while in the legislature, he built a solid working relationship with legislators and local officials from across the county and state.

He said if elected, his top three priorities would be accessibility, transparency and climate justice.

If elected to the Board of Commissioners, Chenette said he would move to have meeting held in the evening rather than the afternoon and have them broadcast live on social media to increase engagement and awareness. He said county commissioners should also hold public forums and publish newsletters or columns.

“I pledge to hold monthly office hours either virtual or in-person to ensure you have direct access to what’s happening at the county level and an ability to ask me questions,” he said.

He said if elected he would push for the creation of a York County Climate Change Mitigation Task Force to coordinate climate mitigation strategies across all levels of government and municipalities, help implement Maine Climate Council recommendations from the state, and move for decarbonization of county operations by 2030.

“The county should put climate on top of the list of priorities instead of the back burner. We must move county operations to 100% renewable energy by 2030 as part of this effort. This could include solar panels on county buildings, EV charging stations, and energy audits of all buildings,” he said. “With monies from the Federal government, we should expand public transit opportunities and provide grants for municipalities to replenish sand and establish other mitigating techniques to coastal erosion based on ongoing discussions with coastal municipalities.”

Allen “Al” Sicard lives in Saco and has been married to Mary Kiely Sicard for 40 years. They have two adult children, Jessica and Matthew; two grandsons and another grandchild due in mid-June.

Sicard has been president of Rocky Coast Marketing since 2000. He presently serves as chairman of the Board of York County Commissioners. He has more than forty years of experience on national, state, county and local campaigns including Director of York County Coordinated campaign in 1996 which won five of six targeted offices including the reelection of President Bill Clinton.

He is past-president of Waban Projects and past-president of York County Federal Credit Union – now Atlantic Federal Credit Union. He said his work on boards with multi-million-dollar budgets and his more than three years on the York County Board of Commissioners give him the experience needed to “finish the work we have started.”

The county’s 250 employees are spread over various departments - sheriff, jail, district attorney, deeds, probate, emergency management and Layman Way recovery center and compromise a $22million annual budget, said Sicard.

“Our board takes this responsibility seriously and we never missed an in-person meeting during these three years of covid,” he said.

If reelected, keeping county taxes low would be among Sicard’s top three priorities. He said since he’s been a commissioner, the board has averaged 2-3% increases while inflation is now in the 7-8% range.

Another priority would be to continue vetting the $40 million in Federal ARPA funding.

“This is no small task and will certainly spill into next year…. the job is not done and I would welcome the opportunity to continue to appropriate this ‘once in a lifetime’ funding,” he said.

A third top priority would be continued vigilance against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The county has spent over $3 million -100% reimbursed by the federal government- since the pandemic started to make sure all 29 cities and towns were equipped with the proper protective equipment and vaccination supplies and staff, as needed,” he said. “This fight is not over and our EMA department continues to offer boosters in Sanford. We cannot let down our guard.”

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.