By Renee Worthing
Register Reporter
    Candidates and incumbents for three Sanford Town Council seats participated in Candidate’s Night on Oct. 15. The event, hosted by the Sanford-Springvale Chamber of Commerce, opened phone lines, allowing the public to call in with their own questions.
   The candidates tackled issues from economic growth to a sex offender ordinance, crime and the impact of welfare recipients on local taxpayers.
   Alan Walsh is running for an unexpired term against Lenny Horr, who was not able to attend due to a previous engagement. Councilor Gary Lamb’s unexpired term begins immediately after the November election.
   Four candidates, including two incumbents, are vying for two three-year terms. Incumbents Kevin Chabot and Bradford Littlefield are vying for the seats against Leonard Mustacchio and Robert Stackpole.
   The forum was moderated by Chamber President Rick Stanley.
   Although the candidates agreed there is a “crime problem” in Sanford, they differed on the magnitude.
   Stackpole said he feels safe walking around Number One Pond and around town.
   “That’s not to say everyone feels safe everywhere around town. When you revitalize areas of town, you reduce crime,” Stackpole said.
   Moving the vocational center to the mills would bring activity to the mills, which, in turn, would discourage crime, he said.
   But, Mustacchio, who lived in northern New Jersey, said Sanford’s crime rate is no comparison to what he experienced.
   “You have no idea what crime is,” he said.
   Mustacchio said the “war on drugs” has been waging for years with no relief in sight and wondered if it was “worth it” to spend money for something which has produced no “substantial proof” of decreasing drug presence.
   Sanford native Littlefield said he sees “much more” violent crime than he did when he grew up, which he said is “unacceptable.”
    Chabot said his view as a police officer from a neighboring community afforded him an inside look at crime in Sanford.
   “Absolutely there is crime,” Chabot said. “Gangs and drugs do exist.”
   While Walsh said he agreed with Stackpole and Mustacchio, he said he was “not sold” on more staffing at the police department.
   “We need to take care of the officers we currently have,” he said.
    Mustacchio put much of the blame of crime on higher government.
   “Most of the police reports are for violation of condition of release. It’s not the police. It’s the courts. Courts need to enforce the laws,” he said.
   When a resident called in to pose the question, “What impact does the rising population of welfare recipients have on taxpayers and what would you do to reduce the burden?” Mustacchio placed responsibility on the state.
   “Growth attracts more low-income people. It’s a function of growth,” he said.
   He said plans to “make Sanford a nicer town” and force low-income people out would be ineffective.
   “Sanford is well known for when you want a handout, you come here, whether it’s for assistance, grants, land giveaways or whatever,“ he said.
   Stackpole said Sanford is known as a “service center,” but said an improved economic base, can reduce the service center mentality.
   Littlefield said social economic status is brought down by individuals on welfare.
   “I’m not condemning. It is a function of our government that we are going to take care of those people,” he said.
   However, he said single mothers, abuse and alcohol are often associated with low-income and welfare.
   “The police attend to these households time and time again. Welfare individuals seek public service housing and don’t pay the full rate,” Littlefield said. “It’s an extreme cost.”
   He also said welfare recipients “tend to be unproductive. They are not working, but trying to support family."
   “It’s an insurmountable cost. It does affect our quality of life in town. Economic development helps these people become self-sustaining,” he said.
   Chabot said Sanford doesn’t have the tax base that coastal towns have. He said promoting controlled growth would attract industrial businesses, thus increasing the tax base. He said the solution was to “attract different residents, hard working families to this community.”
   Walsh said there was a difference between a handout and a hand up. He said the majority of welfare recipients have children that can “put a drain on the school department.”
   “I don’t like the question, quite frankly,” he said. “We have a system that enables us to help our neighbors when they are down and out and need a hand. I believe in a hand up not a handout. It does affect our tax base. There are ways to combat bringing additional people needing a handout that aren’t hurtful and not vengeful. Yes, they have an impact.”
   A member of the public asked the candidates to address the designation of Sanford from a town to a city when the population reaches 30,000 to which the candidates expressed differing opinions.
   Stackpole said Sanford is a city that wants to be a town.
   “At 30,000 (residents) we will be ready,” Littlefield said.
   But, Mustacchio voiced concern about rising crime rates and rising expenses associated with becoming a city.
   “It’s not a great thing,” he said. “The bigger it gets, the more expensive, the more maintenance.”
   He said there are no checks and balances in place and said Sanford needs a new form of government, but Walsh said he wasn’t committed to accepting the designation of a city without further data.
   Chabot said Sanford’s recent “significant” growth was marked by the change of government organization from the board of selectmen to town council, but he said the growth brought “city problems” of drugs and crime. He said he wanted Sanford to continue to move forward in a controlled manner.
   Littlefield said he wanted to create economic opportunity, encourage “frugal spending” and keep taxes down, but Mustacchio said the jobs promised by Oxford Aviation would “never exist in my opinion.”
   He expressed concerns such as town property being “given away and land swaps that accommodated the buyer.”
   The candidates offered their suggestions to foster economic development.
   Walsh included priorities such as a new location for the police department and property tax relief, while Stackpole cited choices of shopping and restaurants, as well as recreation and green areas.
   Increased public safety would foster economic growth, Chabot said.
   “To attract business, we need to let them know they are moving into a safe community,” he said.
   Candidates also offered their thoughts on a sex offender ordinance.
  Walsh said while sex offenders have “paid the price outlined by the courts,” he would support, “unequivocally,” state laws and notification.
   Chabot agreed with Walsh.
   “They are still citizens. What we can do is limit where they reside. We don’t have the power to force them to move,” he said.
   Littlefield supported a sex offender ordinance in Sanford that was “at least as strict as surrounding towns.”
   Stackpole said a “reasonable” ordinance should be in place, but Mustacchio said the issue should fall into the laps of the state legislatures who should enact a state-wide policy.
   The forum was recorded and can be viewed in it’s entirety on Channel 12 at a later date.