By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — When David Martin didn’t like how the Caribou City Council was being run, he decided to do something about it. It was an uphill process, which included a decision by Caribou voters to change their city’s charter. Having served as a councilor for the past five years, Martin is running to represent Caribou, District Four, in the Maine State House of Representatives.
He doesn’t like how things have been handled in Augusta over the past few years and, like he’s done before, Martin wants to do something about.
“I think we need a strong voice to represent rural Maine and an agenda that says ‘Caribou citizens come first,’” Martin said. “If it’s good for Caribou, I’ll support it, if it’s not [good for Caribou,] I wont.”
A no-nonsense Democrat, Martin isn’t afraid to venture across the aisle to get things done.
“It’s good to belong to a party, but no one party has all the answers,” he said. “It’s good to talk with each, and that’s not so bad in Maine.”
There are three main facets of the region and Maine that Martin is looking to improve — jobs, education and energy independence.
With 38 years of teaching math (and one year of science) at the middle and high school level, Martin understands the struggles that teachers face daily.
“It’s a tough job and it’s really been tougher lately because nobody thinks anybody’s doing a good job,” he explained, adding that teachers need a little help.
“That help used to come from home — you called mom and dad and that took care of it; that’s not true often time now-a-days,” Martin said, suggesting ideas and solutions to keep kids motivated and goal-oriented and the idea that regional vocational centers should be able to determine their own graduation requirements.
Martin believes that if students want to obtain a technical degree through a vocational school, their curriculum should be more in tune with the fields they’re studying.
When it comes to creating jobs, Martin is a strong believer in bonds — particularly in recent times, when interest rates are so low.
“Especially if the people voted for them,” he emphasized.
Aside from the necessity of maintaining the region’s infrastructure, Martin would like to see value added to Maine’s iconic raw products before they’re shipped away to various markets.
Martin supports processing the region’s resources here while supporting the local economy as well, particularly through one means that’s catching on quickly.
“I really think we should invest in biomass,” Martin said. “I’d rather buy pellets than oil.”
Currently, Martin heats his home predominantly through pellets, “and I love it when I open a bag of pellets and it says ‘Made in Ashland’ right on that bag — I know it was trucked by someone locally and it was made by someone locally, and that money stays in the county instead of being sent overseas.”
Martin would also like to see government fuel assistance programs, like LHEAP, support the purchase of pellets instead of oil.
While Martin’s math department teaching tenure for Caribou schools has spanned four decades, he’s accrued years of farming experience by spending the summers working for farmers in the potato fields.
“I’ve lived here and worked here — not only in the school system, I’ve worked on the farm,” Martin said. “I know what it’s like to struggle.”
“I was brought up poor; I didn’t know it because so was everyone else around me, but you need a voice for The County and rural Maine, and I’m a straight shooter,” he added. “I’m going to do what the right thing is.”
Editor’s note: A candidate profile on Carol McElwee of Caribou, who is also seeking the District 4 House of Representatives seat, ran in the Aroostook Republican & News on June 6.
