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One new councilor will join the Old Town City Council, and two incumbents will keep their seats.
Linda McLeod, Katrina Wynn and Scott Wilcox were elected to the Old Town City Council Tuesday, beating out Robin Cacace and John Dieffenbacher-Krall.
McLeod and Wynn were the only incumbents in the race.
McLeod received the most votes with 1,803. Wilcox had the second most votes with 1,687. Wynn received 1,623.
Dieffenbacher-Krall and Cacace received 1,217 and 1,540 votes, respectively.
The electees will join a City Council that has been faced with decisions about how to calm rising taxes and whether city positions should be cut. Before election night, the candidates said they were eager to find ways for Old Town to reshape its identity years after the Nine Dragons paper mill closed in 2023.
Candidates pointed to an array of priorities when talking about how they see the future of the city.
McLeod previously said her main priority is bringing in new businesses to Old Town. During her time on council, McLeod has supported a six-month ban on data centers and another ban on automatic license plate readers.
Wynn, who has served on the council for a year and a half, said she wants to bring forward more initiatives to the council. She’s focused on keeping the city affordable for residents and completing projects like adding more accessible sidewalks and removing library late fees.
“I think the biggest issue is we’re a mill town without a mill. We have services built on mill money and no mill,” Wynn said last month.
Wilcox, the former Old Town public safety director, is returning to public service in the city. He currently serves as the CEO of the Old Town-Orono YMCA, and said he wants to work with local businesses to see how the council could bring in other stores.
“I think maybe it’s time that we re-identify ourselves not as a mill community any longer, but try to find something else to go there or work with [ND Paper] to do something different,” he said.