By Barbara Scott
Staff Writer
Seven local residents are seeking election to available seats on the Caribou City Council. Voters will elect individuals to (three) three-year terms and (one) one-year terms. Voters will also act to fill (two) three-year terms on the RSU 39 Board of Education and one seat on the Jefferson Cary Memorial Hospital Fund board.
In response to profile questions provided by the Aroostook Republican, the candidates responded to the following questions:
•What other political offices have you held? What offices, honors or titles do you now (or have in the past) hold?
• What is your career background?
• Why did you decide to run for this position?
• What do you see as the most important issue facing the community you will serve?
• What do you see as your primary goal, if elected?
• Why should voters elect you to this position?
Gary Aiken, 62, is seeking election to a 3-year term on the Caribou City Council.
“I have been involved in business management for practically my whole life,” said Aiken. At age 19, I was the warehouse manger for Walker Exhaust Systems, responsible for three supervisors and a staff of over 50 people. I held numerous positions of responsibility with various companies including national distribution manager, production manager, plant manager, vice president of operations and general manger over the years.”
The candidate stated he decided to run for this position for many reasons. “Caribou has a large population of people who are on a fixed income and struggling to get by. Our mill rate keeps rising, which affects everyone’s property taxes as well as their vehicle excise taxes. Usually when taxes increase the quality of life improves for the residents. I don’t see that happening here and it seems the city has done little or nothing to attract new business to the area. If they are doing anything, it certainly is not working.”
“I feel that city government should be more open than it currently is for its citizens. There has only been one time in the past 12 years that I wanted to go to the council to present a concern that I had. After I found out all the hoops I had to go through to get my request approved — get on the agenda for a meeting sometime in the future and go to council to present my concern, I just looked after it myself. It makes me wonder if our city staff and council really understand whom they are working for or representing. The times I have watched the local council meetings, I’ve noticed a lot of time is spent on insignificant items and many of the major issues are just put through with little or no discussion. In fairness to the present council, perhaps there have been numerous meetings about these issues before they have been passed at the council meeting. If that is the case I think the information their decision was based on should be available to any citizens that are interested in it.”
“The most important issue facing the community,” said Aiken, “is high taxes, having an open and transparent government, developing a business-friendly city, pick one — they are all critical to be a successful city in the future.”
“My primary goal, if elected will be to make Caribou a better place for all of us to live and work.”
Aiken said that voters should elect him to his office because he is retired and has the time, experience and the abilities to accomplish his goal. The candidate has been married to his “best friend Barbara” for 41 years and has two sons, Matthew, 37 and Jeffrey, 34.
Mary Kate Barbosa, 43, is an incumbent candidate seeking re-election to the Caribou City Council.
The candidate is an educator and has taught in Arizona, Vermont, at the Limestone Community School, the Loring Job Corps, in Caribou schools as well as for programs for at-risk youth. She is currently the director of Student Support Services at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
“I ran for my first term in reaction to the infighting that was occurring on the Council at the time and that was preventing important decisions from being made. I have chosen to run again so that I can continue the work I have contributed to during my first term.”
“A very important issue facing the community is that of maintaining the level of service on which our citizens have come to relay on, while facing the challenge of dwindling state contributions to the city.”
Barbosa described her primary goal, if elected “I would like to continue to maintain an environment of open dialogue and honest discussion where citizens’ opinions are respected and they are not vilified for voicing their views.”
In response as to why voters should re-elect her to the city council, the candidate stated, “I have the experience, open-mindedness and fairness needed to represent all citizens of Caribou.”
Barbosa was born and raised in Caribou and is a graduate of CHS. She and her husband David have three children, one of whom graduated from CHS and two who currently attend Caribou schools.
David R. Genthner, Sr., 57, who is seeking election to a three-year term on the Caribou City Council, grew up in Yarmouth and was stationed at Loring Air Force Base from Jan. 1975 through Aug. 1978, and has been a resident of Caribou since that time.
Genther is currently serving as chairperson for the Caribou Zoning Board of Appeals (2 years). “For two and one half years of my previous term, I served as co-chair of the board and have been on the board for three terms. Due to lack of citizen participation, we could lose this board to a regional one made up of code enforcement officials and legal municipal officials, no citizen membership.” Genther has also served as a coach and manager/coach for the Caribou Little League from 1993-1997.
A 2007 graduate of Northern Maine Community College and currently employed at the Loring Job Corps Center in the transportation office, the candidate said, “I have been employed there (LJC) for more than 12 years and have worked in the transportation, building and ground maintenance fields, both private and public sectors since my honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force in 1978.”
Genthner stated he decided to seek election to the city council in order, to use his “leadership experience on the Zoning Board and to serve the citizens of Caribou as a team member on the city council, while being community-spirited and an independent thinker for all the citizens of Caribou.”
In response as to what he sees as the most important issue facing the community Genthner stated, “we need to balance the city budget without adding any more financial burden on the taxpayers. There are single people working two and three jobs and couples working three and four jobs and raising families and we still have senior citizens living on fixed incomes. Running a city is not rocket science. Common sense and good judgment is part of what you need to run this city, and which I have plenty of. You can’t blame the public employees of the city; some of them have to work a second job as well. They do what they are told to at their jobs — they have foremen, supervisors and department heads just like I do at my job.”
The candidate’s primary goal, if elected, is, “to get the city budget balanced without tax increases. To make Caribou more ‘business-friendly’ for new businesses to move into. We need to make Caribou a place for people to move to and raise families and to reverse the ‘brain drain’ of our people who were educated in the county and left for ‘greener’ jobs that put money in someone else’s pocket downstate or out of state. We need to make Caribou a destination for success, not a tourist layover stop.”
Genthner feels voters should elect him to a council seat because, he was told by several people that “it doesn’t matter how many campaign signs you post around Caribou for the election, that just shows how much money you spent on your campaign. What your platform is, is what counts.
“Some of my opponents will use trendy works like ‘transparency’ or being ‘transparent.’ How about using words like honesty, integrity and especially the word ‘ethics?’ When did you hear a candidate use those words lately? I ran two years ago and lost but I didn’t lose any sleep. Like I told people two years ago, what’s the worse that’s going to happen — I’m going to lose. I’m telling them the same thing again this election. I’m still going to sleep if I lose and I will be back at work on the 9th of November. How’s that for honesty? Also I was asked to run for a seat on the RSU 39 Board of Education because of my background in county education.”
Genthner and his wife Doreen have been married for over 33 years and have three sons and daughter-in-laws. The couple has six grandchildren and step-grandchildren.
Eric James Gustin, 36, is vying for a three-year term on the Caribou City Council.
Employed as a general contractor/construction, the candidate decided to run for the position because, “Although I have never held any political office, I consider myself to be very politically aware of the all too real economic and social problems within our city and, on a larger scale, our country. I am no longer content with screaming from the sidelines about how things are being done. The only way to change the game is to get in and play.”
Gustin described the most important issue facing the community as well as his primary goal, if elected, this way. “Economics. It’s just that simple. Our country is still in a strangling recession. But if you compare northern Maine’s economy to larger cities’, most would agree that we’ve ‘always’ been in a recession. That only means that we are hurting that much more now.
“The majority in northern Maine are correct when they say that the base closing took a major toll on our economy. What most don’t realize is that there are several local businesses that have been fighting larger corporations from setting up shop in our city. Now, it is understandable that they don’t want that kind of competition, however, it is unforgivable to let our city’s economic growth and prosperity suffer in a stalled state simply so a select few can feel a little more secure in their business.
“We have to reach out to larger businesses to help boost us out of this downward spiral. New jobs would surface and Canadians might just spend some money in Caribou on their way to Presque Isle.
“If you are tired of the same old thing, if you want someone in office who outright refuses contributions or favors, then by all means vote for Gustin,” stated the candidate. “I’m more than happy to be the stubborn wheel on the status quo’s grocery cart. Also, as one late thing, I would encourage everyone out in the voting pool to take a look at Congressman Ron Paul for president in 2012.”
Gustin has two daughters and one son; he and his wife Kimberly reside in Caribou.
Norma Milton, 68, is seeking election to a three-year term on the Caribou City Council. Over the years Milton has been the recipient of a variety of awards and has held numerous positions in both civic and the business arenas including the following: Past president, Caribou BPW; Caribou BPW Woman of the Year, 1972; Maine State Business Woman of the Year, 1993; past president Northern Aroostook County Insurance Women; Northern Aroostook County Insurance Woman of the Year 2003; past member Central Aroostook Humane Society; past president Caribou Pet Rescue; and the American Red Cross Real Heroes Award, 2007. Milton also received the Caribou Kiwanis Club President’s Award for voluntary service, 2003-04; and the Governor’s Award for Community Service 2010. Milton is currently president and founder of Halfway Home Pet Rescue, which recently was presented with the Chamber of Commerce, “Spirit of Caribou” award.
The candidate attended two and one-half years of college and has more than 50 years of business/bookkeeping/insurance background, as well as being a former owner of a Caribou business, Home Farm Kennels for 25 years.
As to why she decided to run for this position on the Caribou City Council, Milton stated, “I have thought about this for a couple of years, in fact when my late husband, Everrett and I moved back to Caribou, I said I would probably, in time, decide to run for city council. Everett laughed and said, ‘Oh I want to be around to see that. I feel that Caribou needs a booster shot of common sense. Serving on the council was always a ‘maybe tomorrow’ thought for me until this recent issue of the Halfway Home Pet Rescue when I found that the ‘tomorrow’ had arrived. We need a city government that listens and responds appropriately to the taxpayers. It is time to cut out the sandbox politics and work for the community again.”
Milton said she sees the most important issue facing the community is to “start working for the community. We have power plays and sandbox politics growing in our town and we are hurting economically because of it. The founders of Caribou knew that you would always get back much more than you give and they worked for the community and prospered. Now we have a group of ‘its all about me’ people heading up our city’s leadership and nothing will dry up community spirit faster than that.”
The candidate sees her primary goal, if elected the following way. “First, I want to listen, earn and work with people who have the same goals in moving our city forward. The day a person feels that he knows it all — that is the day that person should be done. My first goal is to create an environment of community.”
Milton feels she should be elected because “I can offer as one of my qualifications that I know what tough luck, hard knocks and disappointments are all about and that my answer is to acknowledge the problem and keep working to solve, rebuild and care about your neighborhood. I know that tough times will pass and hopefully we will be better off because of it. I do my best at whatever I am doing and I am not afraid to speak the truth.”
A native of Caribou, Milton was married to the late Everett Milton for 46 years. She has two grown children, son, Garrick who lives in Caribou with his wife Sandra and their two sons, Matthew and Jacob, and a daughter Vanessa Patenaud, who resides in Mapleton with her husband Pierre and their two sons, Joseph and Thomas.
Philip J. McDonough, II, 62, is seeking a one-year term on the Caribou City Council.
The candidate previously served as a city councilor from 2005-07, he has been a member of the Caribou Planning Board since 2007, currently serving as chairperson; is a member of the Nylander Board (since 2007) and has been a member the city’s Capital Improvement Committee, 2010 to present.
A 24-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force; the candidate spent 11 years working in the private sector and eight years at DFAS. He holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration from Husson University.
McDonough said he opted to run for this position because, “I have an interest in community service and I think that I bring a positive approach to the decision-making process.”
The candidate also stated that he sees economic development as the most important issue facing the community and if elected his primary goal would be fiscal responsibility.
In response as to why he should be elected, McDonough said “I will make an honest effort to improve the economy of this community.”
Bryan Thompson, 30, is seeking to be elected to a seat on the Caribou City Council.
Throughout the last year the candidate served on the Caribou Charter Commission. “I held the office of secretary on the charter commission and played a significant role in the development of the newly revised charter, which will appear on the ballot Nov. 8. Thompson was recognized with University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Young Alumni Award in 2006.
“I am a Caribou High School graduate, and received a bachelor’s degree in accounting and business management with a minor in management information systems from the University of Maine at Presque Isle in 2003. I will earn my master’s of business administration from Husson University this December. I am currently entering my 10th year of employment at the Defense Finance & Accounting Service, where I am a supervisor in accounts payable.”
The candidate said he decided to run for this office, “after serving the past year on the Charter Commission, I have a great aspiration to serve my community and want to play a vital role in making a difference for our community.”
In response to what he sees as the most important issue facing the Caribou community, Thompson stated, “In these tough economic times, Caribou needs to tighten its belt on spending and question the need for every program or service. We also need to improve Caribou’s ability to promote an environment to sustain current businesses and attract future business development.”
If elected the candidate’s primary goal is, “to be directly involved in the budget process and ensure we are spending only what we need to. I don’t want to see the increased cost distributed to the taxpayers. I want to work — as a team with the other council members and city officials — to find innovative ways to decrease our spending and allow Caribou to continue to offer the services the community expects to receive. I will also ensure we, as a council, follow the guidelines in our city charter. I also want to promote Caribou as a place where young families want to live.”
“I genuinely want to make a difference for the city of Caribou. I have grown up here and I know what Caribou has to offer. Caribou is full of potential and I would like the opportunity to be involved in improving how our city is run.”
Thompson resides in Caribou with his wife and two children.
