The House District 69 race features incumbent Walter Riseman (I-Harrison) against political newcomer Michael Davis (R-Bridgton). HD 69 includes Bridgton, Harrison and Denmark.

The News posed the following questions to the candidates; and their responses are arranged in alphabetical order:

Q. 1 — What qualities, skills and experiences do you possess that make you the best candidate for the job?

Davis: I grew up here in Bridgton, and I love it because it is a small town, but I must say that it is also one that for most of my childhood was characterized by empty storefronts, by families yearly struggling to get by.  Under the previous administration’s business friendly policies, I watched new shops come back to our rural community, and I now see them closed and leaving again. I don’t think many in Augusta truly know the damage they have done; the life of a politician has made them too far removed from it. I grew up in a family that worked multiple jobs, and which had to rent rooms of our own home to help pay the bills. And we did this, and we got by, and so did Bridgton, but it was not an easy time. I myself work multiple jobs right now, making soap and cleaners to help ease the present crisis, and growing up working has taught me that determination and honesty are not merely important, but that they are required for the success of any endeavor. I deeply believe that to have the trust of a community is the highest honor one could ever hope to receive, and if I am awarded this trust, I won’t do as so many others have done and forget the obligation I have to represent the will of our people, and not my own. 

I came up through our common schools and attended Fryeburg Academy, and afterwards went to University for engineering. Though I switched to my passion of History half-way through, I retain an understanding of and respect for mechanical engineering and the many requirements which industry needs in order to grow in a place like Maine. As a historian in my private life now, with hopes one day to become a teacher, I have a deep understanding of our community and its cultural heritage, and I know that what makes our district special, and what makes Portland and the coastal cities special, is not and ought not be the same. Our district needs a voice that accurately reflects its core beliefs, and who will not go to Augusta seeking to advance the cause of moneyed interests or in the service of sweeping popular movements which, though they might be on the rise in our country, still find no majority of support here in western Maine.

Riseman: I am completing two years as your state representative. I have been involved in the community for the last 30 years, and worked in social service settings for over 25 years. These experiences have given me beneficial insights into the needs of our children, individuals and businesses in our district. The ability to listen and communicate is essential to the process. Also important are principals of respectful conduct; characteristics such as accountability, transparency, honesty and civility matter to me.

No doubt the Covid crisis had an immediate and unsettling effect on all of us. We lost our sense of normalcy, we experienced lock downs, some lost jobs, some lost housing and most devastating of all, some lost loved ones and neighbors to Covid. In spite of the uncertain times, we took action. Thanks to the resilience and determination of community members, we stood firm, looked out for each other and adapted. We were in it together. I am proud of our community.

However, our work can’t stop here. I have a vision for a bright and promising future for us and we seriously need to commit to addressing the other significant issues affecting us now. It will not be easy work. It requires community involvement and determination. The district questionnaire I circulated earlier in my campaign made me aware of the hard work that is still ahead.

What concerns people the most? Lots. We need to confront a variety of serious issues such as education, environment, infrastructure, access to healthcare, affordable housing and good jobs. While seemingly enormous challenges, they provide multiple opportunities for innovative and thoughtful solutions. I have worked hard for you, and if reelected I will continue my hard work with a commitment to bring positive changes to the people I serve.

For example, in the 129th Legislature, I authored legislation to require accountability and transparency by Central Maine Power in their billing practices. I was lead sponsor for legislation that helped protect our lake environments from invasive plant species. I participated in co-sponsoring bills to provide property tax relief for the elderly, expand Medicaid coverage, promote better access to healthcare and increase funding for the mental health and substance abuse crises. 

The pandemic ended our legislative session early before much of our work could be completed. More than likely, much of it will have to be continued into the 130th Legislature next year. This is the time for proven leadership and experience. I hope you will agree that I am the best candidate to continue the work.

Q. 2 — As Maine continues to contend with and bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic, what three area should state government focus on and what possible solutions would you propose?

Davis: When I look at the Mills administration’s response to Covid-19, I see a host of inexperience and knee-jerk responses which took from Maine the opportunity of a safe recovery. I ascribe out falling rates and low overall case numbers to our remoteness and lack of population density, not anything the politicians in Augusta have done. Consider New Hampshire, and how different their response is to ours. NH never had a mandatory mask mandate; NH ended their crowd limit orders on July 1; NH didn’t order that all bars be closed indefinitely, but instead limited them to a socially-distanced half capacity.  These are moderate, sensible restrictions that take in to account the needs of business owners and the public’s agency in safe decision making. And today, even despite their having hotspot Massachusetts for a neighbor, case counts and hospitalizations rates in NH stand alongside Maine’s as the best in New England. It is proof that our response is not warranted, and focuses too much in the wrong areas. Case in point, I don’t think our constituents are aware that right now, over half a year since this began, our state is still not requiring every person who works and interacts with nursing homes be checked for Covid. Why not? If Augusta put their focus into protecting places like these, where the vast majority of our outbreaks have occurred, then real progress could be made to protect our vulnerable citizens.

Concerning the businesses here which have been forced to close, I would feel it is our government’s responsibility to provide support for those businesses which were crippled on its orders. I’ve said since March that if the state had held onto the sales tax returns and licensing fees which our small businesses faithfully paid the state in the first quarter of the year, these could have been disbursed back to them as aid during the shutdown. Out of all the excessive spending which goes on in Augusta, I feel it necessary that our next legislature do as best it can to right the wrongs of this administration and give back to the families whose livelihoods it has ruined.

Riseman: Adequate emergency response plans — Every branch of government and the associated departments must prepare a plan that adequately addresses public emergency situations so the public will be properly served.

Rebuilding a faltering economy — The Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) should conduct a state-wide assessment by industry of the pandemic’s effect on them and seek specific industry solutions to rebuild the economy.

Develop a state-wide, state-of-the art broadband infrastructure — We need to rethink our approach to improving broadband access in the state. It’s time to focus on making a system that significantly improves services to the rural areas. Our future should include service affordability and for effective services to be available for education from home, telehealth communication and working from home, regardless of population density.

Q. 3 — Where do you stand on the Central Maine Power proposed transmission corridor, good or bad deal and why?

Davis: I do not support it, though I need to be clear on why. All in all, I’m not opposed to the concept – if New England needs more power and we can’t produce it on our own, and Canada has excess to sell, then I say let the market fulfill the demand. What I am opposed to, and why I think most of rural Maine is opposed to it, is the spirit of disregard with which the project was carried out.  I think the voices of the towns along the proposed corridor ought to matter, and furthermore, I think they ought to be at the forefront of the discussion on whether or not it should be run through their towns. Over 20 of the towns along the route have voted against or otherwise expressed their disapproval for it, and I feel it is their right to be heard. They will always be in the minority of towns in Maine, but I believe the people who live there know what’s best for them, and if they oppose it, the planners ought to either find a route through more willing areas or do something to win over the affected towns, whether it is through power-sharing, more subsidies, etc.

I think the reason most of Maine has latched onto this as such a hot-button issue is the feeling of disaffection many of us have; the belief that our government is run by politicians who, instead of standing for the will of their constituents, instead believe they know better than those who elected them to office. It reminds me of the attempt to store nuclear waste in Bridgton during the 1980s; which would have happened had it not been for an intense local opposition to it gaining ground and making it a statewide issue. It may be a good deal financially for Maine, but I think the way this was carried out is proof enough that the folks in charge of this didn’t really care what the Mainers it would affect thought about it when they began. That’s enough for me to know that I cannot support it.

Riseman: I am opposed to the current plan. We shouldn’t sell out our pristine environment and character based on a financial gain which primarily benefits some large foreign company at the expense of the Maine people.

Q. 4 — If elected, what items/issues would be priorities and what might be ways to address them?

Davis: There are three major issues for me — spending, education and infrastructure. First off, Maine needs to get its spending back on track. We cannot go about spending more money than we take in, and furthermore I feel it is a poor legislature, and one not representative of the best thought and best character in our state, that could ever vote to raise taxes without a serious and deep regret. It should be seen as a failure of government if, in a normal year, it is forced to take more wealth from its citizens.  Any family in this district does not have the luxury of living beyond its means, why then should we permit this behavior in the stewards of our tax dollars? This behavior opens us up to dangers – this virus lockdown being an all-too painful example. Our government based its budget for this year, and in turn based its previous spending, on the projected returns for this year. They bet that they could spend our surplus millions last year, and then add on an additional budget spending even more, because the expected taxes and revenue which would come this year would be able to make it up. Then the virus hit, state revenue plummeted, and now we have a shortfall which only federal aid can dig us out of.  This thoughtless mode of spending cannot continue, it heaps the responsibilities of their mismanagement upon our already struggling people, and furthermore demeans the standing of our state in the national eye. 

These next two I will be more brief with; I would see our educational system retooled to focus not on standardized state testing with its disregard for history, civics and overall comprehension, but instead favor a classically-rooted curriculum and an administration which puts more resources into teachers than superintendents. There is no reason why the students of Bridgton and the students of Denmark be afforded so vastly different a high school experience. 

And on infrastructure, I again think we should again consider taking a leaf from NH, which manages every year to maintain better roadways than Maine, and in a state without sales tax at that.

Riseman: Substance abuse and mental health — Adequate resources need to be channeled into these issues. Rather than relying on law enforcement to fix the problems, solutions that focus on education, prevention and rehabilitation will provide positive long-term results.

Public education — We have to take a serious look at how to reinvent education. The old brick and mortar style of education may need to change. The Covid crisis forced us to take an immediate look at the system but we may need to change to a system that incorporates new technology and innovative teaching strategies.

Q. 5 — What are the three biggest challenges Maine faces in the next three years?

Davis: Budgeting, our aging population, and the prevalence of advisory lawmaking.

Riseman: Breaking the extreme partisan culture in politics;bring back jobs; make government more accountable and transparent.

Q. 6 — …And how should state government go about addressing those challenges?

Davis: Well, I’ve already mentioned budgeting, but another thing I would like to see is a level of accountability tied to state spending. In the last budget, for example, it is not enough to just throw $2.95 billion at the state Department of Education and expect it to fix the problem. It is not enough to say that the problems haven’t been fixed from last year, so let’s add another $324 million this time around. No, these funds ought to be tied to the requirement of desired outcomes, whether it be increased literacy, better comprehension, etc. 

We need to actually incentive school officials and school system administrators to do better, not promise them that more money is always coming either way. How can any say they are honestly doing a good job when, for yet another year, even enrollment numbers in the public-school system are dropping. Thousands less students attend school in Maine now than they did a decade ago, despite all the spending increases which come every year.  It is a crying injustice. 

Second, Maine is the oldest state in the nation, but one way or another, it will be within my lifetime that this becomes no longer the case. The more natural way, if left unchecked, will leave Maine gradually without more and more of its workforce, and with fewer of the rising generation there to take their place. This could have disastrous effects on both our economy and our social structures. The way to avert this, I feel, is to artificially lower this statistic by incentivizing business and young families to come back to Maine. We need folks to consider Maine as a place to live, not just to retire.  Lowering the cost of energy will do much to attract families back to Maine, as will further efforts to expand broadband internet. 

And lastly, to explain what I mean by advisory lawmaking, I want to draw the public’s attention to the fact that up in Augusta, nowadays most bills and indeed most lawmaking is not done by the legislators we elect.  Instead bills are proposed by activists, by lobbyists, by government agencies tasked with the role of knowing better; these write the bills, and lawmakers instead ‘sponsor’ them. As a consequence, we have become a bureau-governed people, and what I think a lot of our citizens don’t appreciate is just how powerless this has left us. We do not know the people who write the laws we live by, and they are unaccountable to us. Many of these department officials may spend their entire professional careers in place, advocating legislation from a policy position which the people of Maine have very little say in controlling. This is a dereliction of duty on the parts of our legislators; they are meant to be the law-makers, to write the bills they propose to be voted, as that is the only way to ensure bills are proposed which their constituents would actually benefit from. In light of this change, it is no wonder so many of us now feel our government is no longer receptive to the wishes of its people.

Riseman: Partisanship — Unfortunately, over the last decade the style of political leadership has changed. Dominated by extreme elements in both organized political parties, the business of legislating has been relegated to neither side wanting to give ground, compromise or find resolution to deal with many issues. The role of the political moderate needs to be reestablished.

Jobs — The pandemic has decimated our existing job base. Careers and quality jobs have been eliminated and aren’t readily available to many working families. The state will have partner with businesses to reestablish growth, attract a talented workforce and create quality and well-paid jobs.

Reform government — State government needs to be more accountable and transparent to the people they serve. We should institute four-year staggered terms instead of a cycle of every two years. There should be term limits of eight years maximum in the House and Senate. No more career politicians.