HOULTON, Maine – Three candidates are vying for three open Houlton Town Council Seats.
The terms for Incumbent councilors James Peters and Mark Horvath expire on Dec. 31. Councilor Sue Tortello’s term also expires at the end of the year, but she is unable to run for another term, according to the town term limits. Tortello served two three-year terms, the maximum allowed.
Houlton has a term limit policy that does not allow council members to serve more than two consecutive full three-year terms. After two full years out of office, a former council member may seek reelection.
In addition to incumbent Horvath, Jon McLaughlin is running for one of the three seats. Incumbent James Peters is running as a write-in candidate.
Name: Mark Horvath
Horvath did not respond to the candidate questionnaire.
Name: Jon McLaughlin
Age: 68
Party Affiliation: Republican, although the town council never seems to be particularly
partisan.
Why are you running for city council? I always believed in giving back to the
community. I was the school board chair for almost 10 years, was chair of the planning
board, I have been president of the Rotary Club and president and board member of many local organizations. This is a great way to get to know the inner workings of town government and to see why things are done a certain way as it is easy to criticize when one doesn’t understand.
Education: Attended Houlton schools, graduating from Houlton High School in 1973
and attended the University of Maine at Orono, graduating in 1977 with a BA Degree in
Business Administration.
Employment: Recently retired after 22 years as the first Executive Director of the
Southern Aroostook Development Corporation. Presently working part time as the
Executive Director of the Houlton High School Alumni Association, a group I have been
a director of since 2005.
Family: Married to Susan, for 42 years. Two grown sons; Joshua, who lives in
Houlton and Jason, who lives in Farmingdale, ME. Both are married and I have five
grandchildren.
What are the top three priorities you wish to address if elected? In no particular
order, I would like to see communications improve between town administration, its
department heads, the council and the community. Oftentimes the town is criticized for
things that are not completely within its control. Periodic updates to the community
could lessen this. Of course, there are always going to be things that folks don’t agree
with. Perhaps a column on the town’s website once a week.
Secondly, it seems that the council regularly handles issues that seem like they could
have been handled at a lower level, either by a department head or the town manager.
There will never be a 100 percent fix for this, but perhaps we can see a reduction in the issues reaching the council, somewhat.
Lastly, I know that Covid has caused a big ruckus with many things nationwide, but it
seems that the past few years has seen a big reduction in the pride for our town. Drive
around and take a look as though you are looking to move to Houlton and are looking at
the town closely. There are code violations happening all over and it seems like there
isn’t anything that can be done about many of them. If the codes are weak, let’s make
them better. If the code enforcement department lacks teeth, let’s give the department
the teeth it needs. Let’s get pride back in our town that we love so much. Of course,this starts with the town itself. Fix things as soon as possible. Don’t let small things deteriorate to become eyesores such as weeds in sidewalks, dead trees in downtown that don’t get replaced when they die after a hard winter season and so on.
Council needs to support administration in fixing the issues of town that has grown the
past few years and I believe that they are willing to do so. There is a great council now
and I know that they are willing to work on mitigating my concerns.
Name: James Peters
Age: 54
Affiliation: Republican
Why are you running for city council? I ran to get a better understanding of how local government operates. My first election was uncontested as is this election. We need more citizens to step up and run for local government positions. All of the races on the municipal candidate election ballot this year are uncontested.
Education: BS Aviation Science, Retired USBP Helicopter Pilot
Family: Wife and two girls
What are the top three priorities you wish to address if elected? My only priority is common sense. After working in government for over 25 years it seems like there is a lack of common sense in government.
