Alison Hepler is one of two candidates running for the Democratic primary in District 53, which includes Dresden, Woolwich, Arrowsic, Georgetown, part of Richmond and Phippsburg. She is a selectman in Woolwich, where she resides with her husband, who builds wooden boats. She is also the widow of another wooden boat builder, and not surprisingly, she is active in Maine’s First Ship, the attempt to recreate the pinnace Virginia which was constructed in 1604 in Phippsburg, and she also active in the Woolwich Historical Society. She is a history professor at the University of Maine at Farmington.

Hepler plans to remain on the select board in Woolwich, and will be working something out in the spring semester at Farmington. “Some committees meet on certain days,” she said. “I can possibly schedule classes around my responsibilities at the State House. It’s actually required in our contract to allow faculty to do public service in that way.”

Hepler is concerned with state requirements that affect municipalities. “Someone showed me a pamphlet with 36 pages of what amounts to unfunded mandates to the towns,” she said. “Most of the towns can’t afford these mandates, and they affect how much we can spend on our own needs. I’d like people in the state bureaucracy to understand how these regulations affect us in small towns, especially.”

Hepler also believes regional needs should be considered. “There are issues that cross town lines, and county lines,” she said. “It is one of the failures of local control. When a town is doing something that affects its neighbors, there has to be a way for the neighboring communities to have a say.” She pointed out that the town of Wiscasset occasionally makes decisions that affect her neighborhood, on the Montsweag Brook, just on the other side of the town line, more than they affect downtown Wiscasset itself. “We should be able to find a way to help municipalities work together regionally on issues that affect them all, rather than leave a single town to make decisions on something that technically occurs in their borders but has the potential to affect many other people.”

To that end, she thought she might like to work on the Local Government Committee, but owing to her background, believes she would be also a good fit on the Education Committee.

Hepler has never had children of her own, but says she would like to do what she can do to help her students be able to stay in Maine. “To make that happen, we need to make sure the graduates can find good jobs. At the local level, you can really make a difference,” she said.