On June 11, Wiscasset voters will have three candidates to consider for two seats on the board of selectmen.

Incumbent Pam Dunning and challengers David Nichols and Timothy A. Merry are on the ballot.

Dunning, 56, is nearing the end of her second, two-year term on the board. She's a past member of the Wiscasset Budget Committee.

Dunning is director of the Wiscasset Public Library, where she has worked for more than 20 years. She has lived in Wiscasset nearly 40 years.

Among selectmen's accomplishments as a board in recent years, Dunning cited the reinstatement of a police chief's position and the hiring of Town Manager Laurie Smith.

In addition, the board adopted a financial policy on how the town's reserve accounts are invested, and a capital reserve policy regarding the spending of the reserve accounts, Dunning said.

The board also supported the start of the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce, she said.

Wiscasset has a long history of boom and bust, Dunning said. “Now we're in a bust period, and it's time we do things to get booming again.”

“We have good people here, and I want to see that continue … I just want to continue working on the policies and procedures that are going to make it easier for businesses to come here,” Dunning said.

Nichols, 74, is a past Wiscasset selectman, finishing his most recent term in 2012. He has also served on the Wiscasset Budget Committee and chaired the Ordinance Review Committee.

Asked why he would like to get back on the board of selectmen, the retired pipefitter said: “It's a lot of work, but I've got the time for it and I enjoy doing it, so why not?”

Nichols, who has lived in Wiscasset all his adult life, said he wants to help solve problems as they come up. “Or try to, anyway,” he said.

Taxes need to become more affordable, to prevent more home foreclosures and to attract businesses to town, Nichols said. “Families and women are getting priced out of their homes.

“We're spending too much money. You've got to look at the big picture and see what you can cut,” Nichols said.

Foreclosing on Mason Station properties has raised environmental cleanup issues and has put the town in the real estate business, which it should not be, Nichols said. The town will never see the $800,000 Mason Station owed in taxes, he said.

Several attempts to contact Merry for an interview were unsuccessful.

In uncontested races, incumbent water district trustees Dean Shea and Edward Kavanagh are seeking reelection. Rowena Flynn will be the lone candidate on the ballot for a three-year term on the Regional School Unit 12 board of directors.

No one turned in nomination papers for the budget committee. By town ordinance, if any of the panel's three available three-year terms and three two-year terms go unfilled by write-in candidates, the selectmen will appoint people to serve until the June 2014 elections.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.