Government Spotlight

Candidate profiles: Charter Commission part II

Today’s profiles include five of the Charter Commission candidates:
Karen Farrell Langevin
Dan Ellingson
Cindy Brakey
Peter Bragdon and
Mike Arata

Karen Farrell Langevin

Occupation: Executive
Education: Midwife & Herbalist
Community organizations/ service : I volunteer for New Roots Cooperative Farm in Auburn and have extensive experience volunteering as a midwife abroad
Interests/ hobbies: Being a mom, gardening, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, playing cards and board games
Family status: Married with 2 Children
Social media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenefarrell/, https://www.facebook.com/karen.farrell, https://www.instagram.com/karenfarrelllangevin/

Q: Why do you want to serve on the charter commission? What experience and expertise do you bring to this role? 
A: I want to engage with my community and help to ensure a beautiful future for this amazing rural Maine town. As a successful business woman, I believe I bring a great perspective on future planning, managing group discussions and agreements, and best practices for growth.

Q: What top three issues should the commission address, and why? 
A: The Commission should address the goals of the town – aka The Comprehensive plan. The Commission should address long range plans as regards to development – making sure we preserve the rural farm nature of the town – which is the spoken desire of this community. The Commission should be interested in making sure the town remains solvent and profitable as well as look at the public services offered by New Gloucester now and into the future.

Q: What aspects of town government would you like to see preserved in the draft charter, and why? 
A: I would like to see the Town Manager and Select Board preserved but I am also open to hearing from the other members of the commission on their views here and open to learning.

Dan Ellingson

Occupation: Architect
Education: Bachelor of Architecture, University of Arkansas
Community organizations/ service: New Gloucester Little League – Umpire, Involvement with local churches. Fiddlehead Center for the Arts – volunteer instructor
Interests/ hobbies: Hiking many Maine trails, woodcarving, pumpkin carving, gardening
Family status: Married to Beth for 26 years, four sons, including a Navy veteran, and a sailor recruit.
Social media: Facebook

Q: Why do you want to serve on the charter commission? What experience and expertise do you bring to this role?
A: Our family settled in New Gloucester 24 years ago, and my wife’s ancestors were among the original founders of the town. I would like to see the great heritage of New Gloucester continue, and for it to be a place that young families would want to call home. As an architect, I’m a problem solver, and I’m familiar with teamwork and the importance of communication. I work with town building officials and planning boards, and I deal with regulations and ordinances, so I bring a familiarity of town processes along with a perspective from the building industry to the table.

Q: What top three issues should the commission address, and why?
A: There are many issues that will be part of discussions on what to include in the charter, and I think the process should be thorough. The best charter will be one that has the greatest consensus, and considers input from residents, as approval from residents will ultimately be required. We should focus on including in the charter only what is necessary, and what makes sense for New Gloucester.

Q: What aspects of town government would you like to see preserved in the draft charter, and why?
A: I think that the Town Meeting-Selectmen-Manager form of government has served New Gloucester well, and is a good tradition. A variation of government that includes a representative Town Council may make sense for some towns, but I don’t see a need to adopt that form.

Cindy (Lucinda) Brakey

Occupation: Retired, former pension actuary and partner in family energy consulting business
Education: G-NG HS; BA in mathematics from UMO; MA in actuarial mathematics from U of Michigan
Community organizations/ service: Member of NG Candidate/Referendum Forum Committee; chair, board of trustees, First Congregational Church of NG; in the past, school volunteer, Sunday school teacher, member of various church committees, and president of Shaker Historical Society
Interests/ hobbies: Knitting, reading, walking, kayaking
Family status: Married with 4 adult sons and 7 grandchildren

Q: Why do you want to serve on the charter commission? What experience and expertise do you bring to this role? 
A: I want to help maintain the special character of my hometown, while reviewing what works and what doesn’t work in our town governance. I will use my mathematical training to take a logical approach to the task. I have experience working cooperatively on many boards and committees.

Q: What top three issues should the commission address, and why? 
A: I have no preconceived ideas. However, the commission will need to consider the pros and cons of term limits because that issue was the impetus for the charter commission. In addition, the commission will need to consider whether or not the town meeting form of government is still working for the town. Otherwise, I intend to listen to the concerns of the citizens.

Q: What aspects of town government would you like to see preserved in the draft charter, and why? 
A: Personally, I love our town meeting and would like to see it preserved as the legislative body. I have always felt that it was a pure form of democracy. I would also like to preserve the select board as the executive branch. The alternative would be to have a town council and delegate some decision making powers to that group. I would rather keep those powers with the townspeople. However, I will approach the drafting process with an open mind.

Peter Bradgon

Occupation: Self employed
Education: Associates degree, Business Administration, Central Maine Technical College
Community organizations/ service: Angel Tree Prison Ministry- Captain State of Maine , Maine Organ Donation Council – Member appointed by senate president. East Auburn Baptist Church-Mens Fellowship Leader. Root Cellar Lewiston- Volunteer. New Gloucester-Selectmen, community fair chair, budget committee, capital improvement committee and comprehensive plan committee
Interests/ hobbies: Camping (in a camper with all the amenities), stock car racing, fairs, hockey, music
Family status: Married wife Jen, Daughter Makayla 16, Son Tyler 17

Q: Why do you want to serve on the charter commission? What experience and expertise do you bring to this role? 
A: I am the people’s voice, I want to represent the people. I have no special agenda. I have experience from serving on the selectmen and 5 committees to see what works and what doesn’t.

Q: What top three issues should the commission address, and why? 
A: 1.Meeting Operating Standards: I don’t feel that our rules now are effective, clear and uniform. We often don’t have the guidance we need.
2. Financial Policy: We need clear standards on our undesignated fund, budget process, etc.
3. Citizen Involvement in town affairs: I would like to develop clear standards as to how the public can address the board, items can be put on the agenda, citizen initiatives, etc.

Q: What aspects of town government would you like to see preserved in the draft charter, and why? 
A: The in person town meeting is very important and I feel we need to preserve that, also the selectmen manager form of government is important to New Gloucester.


Mike Arata

Occupation: Mechanical Engineer
Education: M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Sacramento State University; B.S. Chemical Engineering, U.C. Davis
Community organizations/ service: Civic involvement, past & present: -Treasurer, Connections Community Group, a Gray-New Gloucester philanthropic organization – Kindergarten Sunday school teacher, East Auburn Baptist Church – Volunteer leader, New Gloucester Cub Scouts – Member, “New Commandment” organization – providing aid and assistance to widows, orphans, & single moms – Volunteer, Bread of Life food pantry, Gray – Member, Maine Society of Professional Engineers Interests/ hobbies: hiking, mountain biking, canoeing, gardening, American history
Family status: Married to Amy B. Arata for 24 years, with 3 grown sons

Q: Why do you want to serve on the charter commission? What experience and expertise do you bring to this role? 
A: As an engineer I’m a professional problem solver and am used to working with diverse groups of people to find practical solutions. I would love to have the opportunity to serve the residents of New Gloucester as part of the charter commission. I bring a positive and open minded outlook and a focus on citizen involvement in our local democracy. New Gloucester has been my home for the last 15 years. This town has meant a lot to my family, and I want to give back. This is a unique opportunity for us to positively impact the future of our town.

Q: What top three issues should the commission address, and why? 
A: The first order of business for the charter commission should be to honor the trust of the voters with a transparent and open process. The commission should consider the voices of all citizens, not just special interest groups. Our democracy is best served when more citizens participate in the process. The topic of term limits deserves careful consideration to determine if it will benefit the town. As we look into composing the charter, I think it is important to focus on the fundamentals. The purpose of the charter is to define the structure of municipal government and not legislative and administrative details. The administrative code, made of ordinances and policies, works together with the charter by spelling out the details of how it is put into practice on a daily basis. Having a clearly defined and user-friendly structure for town government will help promote cooperation and efficiency between all groups involved.

Q: What aspects of town government would you like to see preserved in the draft charter, and why? 
A: A good charter will put first the democratic principles of majority rule balanced by minority rights. Our town meeting is a time-honored tradition, really a special example of citizen democracy in action, going all the way back to September 7, 1774. I want to maintain town meeting as the legislative body, where we discuss and vote on ordinances and the budget. We should consider ways to improve voting access for those who do not have the ability to attend. Many times, people with small children, or work-related constraints have difficulty attending long meetings that go late into the evening. It’s important that their voices are heard as well. I want to maintain the select board as the executive body while seeking ways to improve efficiency and cooperation between the board, citizens, committees, and municipal departments. The needs of the town change over time, and civic leaders must be empowered to use creativity and innovation to promote the welfare of the community. We need to be careful to not produce an overly complicated charter document that prevents our elected leaders from adapting to changing needs.

~ Debra Smith