Five candidates are vying for two Brewer City Council seats this election.
Kathleen Kramer and Kevin O’Connell are running for a one-year seat that was opened after former Deputy Mayor Bill Kimball resigned in July. Jarod Farn-Guillette, Marissa Worster and incumbent Dani O’Halloran are running for a single seat with a three-year term.
At a candidate forum Thursday held by the Brewer Education Association, the five candidates shared their thoughts on affordability, public safety and the future of the Brewer Municipal Pool, which was closed multiple times this summer because of a leak. Every candidate said they support a city pool.
The candidates appear in alphabetical order.
Jarod Farn-Guillette
Farn-Guillette, a Maine Department of Transportation planner and youth hockey and lacrosse coach, is running on a platform of “persistent, polite policy.” Persistence and politeness is needed to enact meaningful policy, he said.
When asked about how he would navigate council decisions on increasing taxes or modifying Brewer’s services to keep costs down, Farn-Guillette said he’s willing to make unpopular decisions to keep the city out of debt and affordable for residents.
“Nobody wants to cut anything, but to ensure that our city is fiscally solvent, I’m willing to do that,” he said.
In his other responses, Farn-Guillette said he supports Brewer’s police department and sees homelessness across Greater Bangor as a mental health issue that could be helped, but too much assistance may lead to reliance.
“I’m of the belief that when the law ends, the law breaks, and it is not necessarily our purpose and our place to be overly empathetic. We need to provide care, but we also need to protect the people that matter to us,” he said.
Kathleen Kramer
Kramer, a retired teacher and National Guard veteran, is seeking a seat so she can help the council bring in new business and ideas, she said.
With affordability being a main issue for many residents, Kramer said she would not only look to bring more businesses to Brewer, but she would try to find additional revenue from city services. Kramer didn’t immediately have specific ideas for that revenue.
“I’ll know more when you elect me, and if I get in there, I can say, ‘OK, what’s going on? Let’s look at this. Have you considered this?’” she said.
Along with bringing in more business to expand the city’s tax base, Kramer said she wants to improve the city’s communications. The city’s new website has made it easier for residents to find what they’re looking for, but community feedback and her new perspective could further improve it, she said.
Kevin O’Connell
O’Connell, a former Brewer City Councilor and Maine State Representative, is running for the one-year seat after several years away from the council. When he learned that the one-year term would be up for election, he thought he’d return to public service, he said.
Brewer has been successful in keeping tax jumps to a minimum in the past, but if a decision to either modify services or raise taxes came up, O’Connell said he would work with the city staff to know what staffing and funding levels are needed. City staff in the economic development department are already working to expand the tax base, and he would work with them to help, he said.
“I’ve said this before when I was on City Council; I want everybody that works for the city to be able to talk to me and not worry about repercussions. I want to be an open door,” he said.
When asked about the possibility of homelessness increasing in Brewer, O’Connell said he doesn’t “want what’s happening over in Bangor to ever come to Brewer.” Brewer police are helping people get to services, either in Bangor or at the Bangor Area Recovery Network in Brewer, when they’re needed, which has helped Brewer have a lower homelessness rate than Bangor, he said.
In addition to wanting to work with city staff and support the police department, O’Connell said he wants to be able to take action on citizen concerns when they’re brought to the council.
Dani O’Halloran
O’Halloran, who is also running for re-election as a state representative against Pat Jude, has held a seat on the City Council since 2023.
During the candidate forum, O’Halloran said she’s focused on accountability and affordability in both Augusta and Brewer, and “not afraid to speak out on issues” when she disagrees with other elected officials.
“I just want to say that nobody votes across the aisle more than I do in Augusta. When I look at a bill, I never look at the back to see whether it’s a Republican bill or Democrat bill. I look to see if it’s good for Brewer and the state of Maine, and I vote for it,” she said.
When asked about how she would navigate increasing costs possibly leading to cuts in Brewer’s departments, O’Halloran did not say how she would go about those decisions but pointed to a lack of taxation for Maine’s high earners. Without that tax, the state is not bringing in as much revenue as possible, she said.
Similar to O’Connell’s response, O’Halloran said Brewer police are doing what they can to help direct Brewer’s homeless population to services, but a lack of state funding for mental health programs has left many unhoused individuals without proper treatment.
Marissa Worster
Worster, a small business owner, is running to be an approachable councilor who residents can bring their issues to. In her previous interactions with councilors, they’ve not always been as helpful as she said they could be.
In many of her responses to questions during the forum, Worster said she would seek community input before making a decision as a council member. For a specific situation — the challenge of either repairing or replacing the Brewer Municipal Pool — Worster said she would want the issue to go to voters.
“It’s kind of one of those things where if the council makes a decision and they say ‘We’re going to spend $10 million on a new pool or we’re going to spend $3 million on a splash pad,’ somebody’s going to be unhappy,” Worster said.
Worster, who described herself as “not polished,” said she may not have specifics for how she’ll enact policy as a council member, but she has life experience and a desire to listen to citizens that will lead to every resident having a voice on city matters.