KITTERY — Two Kittery residents – a political newcomer and a former Maine legislator and Kittery councilor – are seeking the Republican nod in the June 14 primary in County Commission District 5.

The victor will square off against Richard Clark of Wells in the November election for the open seat. Clark is uncontested in the Democratic primary.

The district includes Wells, Ogunquit, Eliot, Kittery and York.

Retired from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Ken Lemont, 64, is a lobster fisherman. He served four terms in the Maine House and two in the Senate. He is a Kittery town councilor, and serves on several local committees. Married, he is the father of two and a grandfather of four.

Susan Wiswell, 61, is a registered nurse. Divorced, she has four children and two grandchildren. She said she first became interested in running for county commissioner in 2012, when she saw no Republicans were running.

Wiswell said she didn’t know much about county government or its role at the time, so she began attending meetings, studying statutes and researching issues.

Lemont said county costs have been rising and services have been receding, with fewer employees in the Registry of Deeds, a backlog at the Probate Court and fewer rural patrol deputies and jail staff.

“Are we taking measures to correct super attenuation of staff and controlling overhead cost?” Lemont asked. “As a seasoned entrepreneur and longtime Kittery business owner, I have had to deal with these matters.”

Lemont said the primary issues he sees is that the cost-benefit relationship between the county government and the district is not well understood. He hopes to remedy that by forging stronger relationships with municipalities.

“County government is an inner engine that gets town business done,” said Lemont. “The legislature is a controlling factor, and I see my friendships with York County’s legislative delegation and my legislative experience as important cost controls.”

Wiswell sees Maine’s drug epidemic as the county’s primary issue. It jeopardizes public safety as addicts resort to burglaries and robberies to fuel their drug habit, filling the jail and creating court backlogs, she said.

She said a jail-based drug rehabilitation program sought by Sheriff Bill King would address addiction in jail, and referred to a program in southern York County that aims to aid drug addicts.

Wiswell said she believes the county jail system still needs some state funding. She doesn’t advocate removing the current tax cap, but would index it to inflation. Eventually, it may be possible to return jails to full county control, she said, but counties would need the ability to charge boarding fees to other counties that reflect the true costs of incarceration.

Lemont said the York County Jail functioned well prior to 2008 legislation, which created a state jail oversight committee that he said took revenues from York County and distributed them to poorer run facilities. He pointed out that corrections officers have been laid off in the past, and there’s been talk of additional jail layoffs.

“The executive and legislative branches must work together to remove the ineffective institutions from burdening state and county government and permit the effective jails to operate with both charges for housing and recognition of reasonable state responsibilities,” he said.

All of the towns in District 5 have their own police departments. Both candidates favor encouraging the contract deputy program.

Lemont said the sheriff ’s office provides significant support to District 5 police departments, and that they work well together. He said establishment of patrol contracts doesn’t appear to be a “smooth and flawless” procedure, and he can help.

Wiswell does not favor expanding rural patrol, but encourages more contract deputies.

“Providing incentives to those municipalities to hire contract deputies should provide the necessary funding without requiring the county, through the ‘donor’ municipalities, to cover the cost,” she said.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.