ROCKLAND, Maine — Dale Hayward said he offers a “different perspective” for voters as he runs against incumbent Councilor Brian Harden for a three-year term on the Rockland City Council.
“I can’t say that I have all the answers,” Hayward said at a candidates debate held last week. “I think it’s time for a change.”
Hayward, who originally is from Belfast, has lived in Rockland for 26 years. He served in the U.S. Air Force and then was a state auditor for Delaware and then Maine. He operated Seaport Office Supply on Main Street in Rockland from 1978 to 1992 and then worked as a Maineline tour bus driver until 1999.
“I’ve seen tremendous changes in Rockland, and I’d like to see tremendous changes in a positive way,” Hayward said.
He said that if he were elected, he’d emphasize hiring locally for city jobs and reducing interdepartmental confusion by getting all official communication in writing. Hayward said that he had been passed over for an attendant job at the transfer station last year.
“I’d like to know why the city doesn’t give preference to people from Rockland,” Hayward said.
He said that one of his strengths is in doing research, and that because he now is retired, he will have plenty of time to learn about issues facing the city. One issue, he believes, is that “all laws” — or local regulations — may not be applied equally.
“I think there certainly are double standards,” he said.
He said he also wants to keep municipal spending down and that he doesn’t want to focus the city’s entire development effort on the downtown district.
“I think we have to look at other areas also,” he said.
One area he’s not too sure about is the proposed Many Flags school consolidation project.
“The minute this subject comes up, I get weak at the knees,” Hayward said. “I can’t see that making it bigger would make it better.”
Hayward said that one of the most important issues facing Rockland is a perceived separation between taxpayers and city officials.
“I’d like to see the city just come down off this pedestal,” he said. “Come down to the same wavelength as the taxpayers.”