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Of the seven people vying for four seats, most vow to take a conservative approach to spending.

By EDWARD D. MURPHY, Staff Writer June 8, 2009

Most of the seven candidates for four seats on the Kennebunk Board of Selectmen are promising to be tight-fisted when it comes to the town budget. And not just for a year or two.

"I feel that in these times, it's important to keep budgets low and still provide the services that citizens demand," said David H. Spofford, a business owner making his first run for elective office. Times are tough, he said, "so you need people who are willing to make some hard decisions for the next probably five or six years."

This year's race has attracted a large crowd because of an unusually high number of open seats. Kennebunk recently changed its charter to expand the board, adding two seats to enlarge it to seven. So, this year, four seats are up for election, with seven candidates running.

The incumbent is Albert J. Searles, a landscaper who was elected to fill out an unexpired term on the board in 2007. Searles said the board has set the town on a "fiscally conservative path," and he'd like to see that continue.

"The board has gotten more conservative, and there's more analysis and less rubber-stamping," Searles said. "To me, that's part of what leadership is all about – being willing to say, 'No.' "

Searles also served on the charter commission that enlarged the board. He said he'd like to make sure that reforms established in the charter are followed – such as a requirement that selectmen disclose their own and others' conflicts of interest.

Searles said his experience can be an asset.

"The new board members are going to have to realize that they're going to need some time to get up to speed, whether they think they do or not," he said.

Rachel A. Phipps is another candidate with experience, although she stepped down from the board in 2001 to take a town job. Phipps, a social worker, said she recognizes the need for belt-tightening when times are difficult, but she also wants to make sure it doesn't go too far.

"Some is required," she said of cost-cutting, "but I feel like at times, the decisions have been to the detriment of people who are truly in need in town."

Phipps also said she thinks the current board has at times overstepped its role by going beyond setting policy to getting involved in day-to-day management issues.

Phipps would also like to see Kennebunk work with neighboring towns to develop a policy on groundwater extraction by water bottling companies.

"Groundwater doesn't respect town borders, and we must act regionally on that issue," she said.

Spofford said he wants to focus on budget matters and keeping property taxes low.

In Maine, property taxes represent a huge burden, he said, "and a lot of people are at the end of the rope for property tax," he said. "It's really difficult, but we've got to step up and make hard decisions."

Spofford would also like to see the selectmen work closely with the board of the new regional school unit that Kennebunk has joined. Even though the state law that created RSUs eliminated town oversight of school budgets, he said, the town needs to establish an open and ongoing dialogue so both bodies aren't working at cross-purposes.

John H. Kotsonis, a postal worker, said he'd like to counter what many people see as a pro-business bias among the selectmen.

Although Kotsonis said he doesn't necessarily agree with that assessment, electing someone who doesn't own a business can go a long way toward dispelling that perception.

He said the board should focus on maintaining essential services, such as police, fire and public works, but now is not the time to go beyond that.

"We owe it to the general public to hold things as they are," Kotsonis said.

Kotsonis said he's glad that the town has decided to put off hiring an economic development director, an issue that got him interested in running for the board. He also said Kennebunk's downtown needs a...