Political newcomer challenges incumbent for District 2 seat on Winslow Town Council
Oct. 3—WINSLOW — Residents are expected to choose Nov. 5 between a councilor of three years and a political newcomer in the race for the District 2 seat on the Winslow Town Council.
Incumbent Councilor Dale Macklin is facing a challenge from resident Stephen Soucy in District 2, which includes the area of Winslow that is north of Carter Memorial Drive and south of the Sebasticook River.
The election will determine the balance of power on the Town Council, which has been embroiled in controversy and split down the middle between four longtime councilors and three newcomers, who were elected last year.
In recent months, Winslow's longest-tenured sitting councilor resigned abruptly and ended his reelection bid, another councilor requested a protective order against the town manager and two other councilors sought medical information about a fellow councilor as he recovered from a coma.
Macklin, 68, has been a Winslow town councilor for three years and was council chairman in 2022. He said the primary planks in his reelection platform are the same as his priorities in office: infrastructure and education.
The town has begun several multimillion-dollar projects to revamp sewage systems and prevent flooding over the past three years, after what Macklin described as years of "deferred maintenance" in which previous councils were unwilling to spend the money needed to repair crumbling infrastructure.
"I think the infrastructure in this town right now is pretty good because of what's happened in the last three or four years," Macklin said. "We've also got to continue supporting the schools, which are a big driver for new people to come to this town."
Soucy, 54, is running for his first elected office, though he served previously as a contractor in the Maine Army National Guard and had applied earlier this year for a spot on the town's charter revision committee. He is the owner of Patriot Power Wash, a small business based in Winslow.
He says fiscal responsibility, transparency and public education are among his priorities as he seeks office.
"I focus on looking forward, not in the rear-view mirror," Soucy wrote this week in a text message. "I do not mind getting my hands dirty and I get deep into the weeds and ask tough questions."
Winslow was embroiled earlier this year in a debate about municipal overspending at the town's public schools. Winslow school administrators had proposed a roughly $20 million budget that councilors voted down during a heated public meeting in April.
At the meeting, Soucy spoke in opposition to the budget, arguing that a rising school budget coupled with large infrastructure projects could increase Winslow's property taxes.
Macklin was among the three Winslow councilors who voted this year in favor of the Winslow Public Schools' proposed $20 million budget, which represented a 7% increase from the prior year.
The Town Council would vote down the budget for the first time in Winslow's history, though voters ultimately approved the budget this summer by a nearly 20-point margin.
The school budget vote was contentious, highlighting what has been a turbulent year in Winslow's municipal politics.
Macklin said the arguments and debates among councilors have not bled into the town's administration, but he is not sure what can be done to make councilors less confrontational with one another.
"The temperature in the Town Office is fine with the people that work there. They get along great, we have an excellent town manager and they do their job," Macklin said. "The outside turmoil, of course, concerns them. How's that going to get resolved? I don't know. We've been trying for a year to very little success."
Soucy said he believes Winslow's political divide is being fueled by newspaper coverage of the town's politics, and that it can be bridged by ousting the current town councilors in November.
"The answer is pretty simple: vote for positive change," Soucy wrote in a text message. "Another way to positively affect the contentious political climate would be to report and print s that are not slanted and contain accurate information."
Absentee voting in Winslow runs from Oct. 7 through Oct. 31 at the Winslow Town Office at 114 Benton Ave.
Voting on Nov. 5 is at Winslow Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8835 at 175 Veterans Drive. Unenrolled voters can register — with identification and proof of residency — at the Town Office or the polls, which are scheduled to be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
Copy the Story Link
