In the only other council race, Mari Huotari Eosco will be unopposed in her bid to retain her Ward 5 seat.
Leverett "Tink" Mitchell, a former city councilor at-large, will compete with one-term incumbent Ruthe Pargurko for the right to represent Ward 7. The ward encompasses most of what is known as Bath's North End.
Wayne H. Cochrane is running for the council's at-large seat.. His opponent, Renee Chevalier, did not return phone calls.
City Clerk Mary White said Chevalier's name will appear on the ballot.
RUTHE PAGURKO
AGE: 58
ADDRESS: 36 Mechanic St.
PERSONAL: Widowed, two grown children
EDUCATION: Graduate, Glen Cove Christian Academy
OCCUPATION: Homemaker
POLITICAL/CIVIC EXPERIENCE: Bath City Council, 2004-present; active in community policing program and American Legion Auxiliary; past member, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Salvation Army
ON THE ISSUES: Pagurko is not afraid to take stands on controversial topics. She voted to close Bath's landfill after residents who live near the facility complained emissions were making them ill.
Pagurko said she would like to see more people visit Bath by boat, traversing the Kennebec River. She would like to see more development take place on the waterfront.
Taxes are a concern; Pagurko said she was disturbed during the most recent budget session when the city had to lay off four municipal employees to keep taxes down.
"We need to find other sources of revenue and I, for one, am in favor of bringing in more business to the city," she said.
Like her opponent Mitchell, Pagurko believes the place for expansion to occur would be at the Wing Farm park.
LEVERETT R. MITCHELL
AGE: 59
ADDRESS: 215 Old Brunswick Road
PERSONAL: Married, five children, nine grandchildren
EDUCATION: Graduate, Morse High School OCCUPATION: Retired fire chief, City of Bath
POLITICAL/CIVIC EXPERIENCE: Bath City Council, 2002-2005
ON THE ISSUES: Mitchell said as much as he would like to see Bath's frontage on the Kennebec River preserved as working waterfront, that goal probably is not realistic. Mitchell said the city needs to remain open to all waterfront development options, including condominiums, hotels, restaurants, marinas and light industry.
He also would favor recruiting industrial companies to establish their businesses in the city's Wing Farm business park. Mitchell believes Wing Farm, with room for expansion, should become the city's base for industrial operations.
He vows to keep an eye on taxes, which he says must be held to a minimum.
WAYNE H. COCHRANE
AGE: 67
ADDRESS: 33 Lincoln St.
PERSONAL: Married, two grown children
EDUCATION: Degree in business administration and accounting, Husson College
OCCUPATION: Retired; now works as a desk clerk for the Bath Area YMCA and Bath Recreation Department
POLITICAL/CIVIC EXPERIENCE: Thomaston selectman and Thomaston Republican Committee member during the 1970s
ON THE ISSUES: Cochrane supports closing the city landfill, noting that potentially harmful emissions affect not only those who live in the North End, but all of Bath's citizens as well.
Cochrane said he supports school consolidation at the local level and adds that children's education, physical fitness and health should be a priority for all residents.
He also feels that the council needs to be an advocate for improving city infrastructure, dedicating funds toward that end on a regular basis.
The city needs to learn how to live within its budget constraints, he says, while still attaining goals that are beneficial to the city as a whole.
RENEE CHEVALIER
No further information available
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be reached at 725-8795 or at
dhoey@pressherald.com
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