BIDDEFORD ‑ November’s mayor race in Biddeford may be a litmus test about how residents feel about the changes to parking policies in the downtown, which include paying to park in city-owned lots. Incumbent Mayor Alan Casavant, a proponent of the changes will face off on Nov. 5 against the policies’ most vocal opponent, Jason Litalien.

Casavant, 67, is running for his fifth term as mayor. A Biddeford native and retired Biddeford High School teacher, Casavant was a state representative for four terms and was on the Biddeford City Council for 18 years. He is married to Patricia Jalbert, has two stepchildren and lives with his wife and two dogs.

Litalien, 43, who announced his candidacy Aug. 22, has never held an elected office – he did run a write-in campaign for mayor in 2017. The Biddeford native is retired from the Air Force. Litalien owned a restaurant in Portland, has a law degree and is retired although he occasionally works as a business consultant. He lives with one dog.

During Casavant’s administration, the city has being going through what he calls a Biddesance, with numerous projects for renovations in the mill district being greenlighted, new businesses and restaurants opening in the downtown, rising valuation in the city core, increased real estate prices in the city and escalating rental prices in and around Main Street.

Casavant has said numerous times that a parking strategy, with short-term, high turnover, free public spaces on Main Street and adjacent areas, paid, long-term parking in municipal lots, and construction of a city-backed parking garage in the mill district – which has yet to be approved by the Biddeford City Council – are key to continued revitalization of the mill district and downtown. The goal of this, he says, is to bring in more tax revenue and stabilize property tax rates for city residents.

“The parking garage is an absolute necessity and it is a huge win for the city of Biddeford,” Casavant said in an email. “It is conservatively calculated that the construction of (a) garage will create the redevelopment and diversification that will add $16 million + dollars of new tax revenue to the city over the first 10 years of the bond, and that, of course benefits every taxpayer, no matter where you live. … If we decide not to build the garage, not only do we lose that potential new revenue, but we also threaten to undermine all of the positive development that we have incurred. More parking and more parking investment in the long run stabilizes the tax rate. Without that stabilization, the rising valuation of property in southern Maine threatens the mil rates of all cities and towns.”

Not all are in favor of the changes to the city’s parking policy. Numerous downtown business and property owners and some residents have complained of the cost and loss of business since the city began charging for parking in city lots at the end of last year. And Jason Litalien is their champion.

Litalien has filed not one but two lawsuits against the city to prohibit paid parking in municipal lots. The first suit, filed in York County District Court, was dismissed. The second, filed in U.S. District Court in Maine is ongoing. He has noted that in 2014, city residents overwhelming voted to ban parking meters in the downtown, which he says also includes paying to park in the downtown municipal lots.

“The people said no to parking meters and have said no to a garage,” Litalien said in an email.

Litalien said that the proposed site for a parking garage, which is owned by the city, could be used for other development.

“A garage is not the only option for the site, there are developers willing to buy the entire site and develop it without requiring another $17 million in taxpayer money on top of the $6.65 (million) cost for the land and on top of the money already given to the mills and what we are giving to them in the future with this bad deal. Selling the land to a developer brings in more money to the city than a garage and does not require the citizens to spend millions more.”

Casavant and other city officials have said that taxpayer money will not be used to pay for the proposed garage.

In addition to opposing the parking plan and parking garage, Litalien said his first priority is to listen to the citizens and honor their voice. He also said he is concerned about the lack of elder care in the city. “The city should do everything it can to keep seniors in their homes as long as they want. The practice of taking senior’s homes for tax foreclosures must end. There has to be a better way to work with the people who built our community and now live on a fixed income.”

Other issues Litalien hopes to address include tax reform, school reform, and development. He said he has been working with developers who are willing to explore redeveloping the former site of a trash incinerator where the proposed parking garage would be built. He said they are interested in the site and are also interested in other sites in the city.

“We are working with developers with deep pockets who want to buy the site and handle the redevelopment of it without handouts from the city like we have been giving to mill developers for years,” Litalien said. In addition, he said he plans to audit all city departments to find savings in the city budget.

Casavant said he is running again because he enjoys the job, likes to help people and is committed to the redevelopment and growth of the city and rekindling people’s pride in living in Biddeford. He said he’s proud of such past accomplishments as being mayor when the city bought and closed the trash incinerator. That, he said, has been a major impetus for other changes that have taken place during his tenure liked renewed investment in the downtown and mill district, and growth of business in those areas and other areas of the city.

“Because of what we have done as a council and a city, Biddeford is seeing the greatest rush of investment and entrepreneurial involvement that it has seen in the past 50 years or more,” Casavant said. “It is a wave that we need to continue to catch and surf.”

If elected, Casavant said, he would like to help the schools continue their upward trajectetory, continue to partner with the University of New England, continue to work on the housing crunch of southern Maine that is contributing to more and more homelessness.

Also, he said, “We need to continue to partner with business in terms of expansion and job creation, and we need to continue to invest in our airport, that had been so underfunded for so many years.”

In addition to the race for mayor, the Biddeford City Council and School Committee members will be elected on Nov. 5.

Running in the election for two at-large City Council seats are incumbent Marc Lessard, and Doris Ortiz; William Emhiser is running unopposed for the Ward 1 position; incumbent and City Council President John McCurry Jr. will attempt to keep his Ward 2 seat against challenger Jon Phillips; incumbent Stephen St. Cyr is running unopposed in Ward 3; Ward 4 Councilor Robert Quattrone Jr. faces two challengers, Abigail Cioffi and Heather Mills; incumbent Amy Clearwater will run against Bradford Laverriere in Ward 5; Ward 6 Councilor Norman Belanger is being opposed by Sean Behen; and Ward 7 Councilor Michael Ready has no opposition.

Those running for seven School Committee positions include incumbents Dennis Anglea, Nathan Bean, Dominic Deschambault, Randy Forcier, Karen Ruel and Linda Vadnais; as well as Amy Grohman, Emily Henley, Rebecca Henry, Bobby Mills and Cecily Silva.

Also on the ballot will be those running for wardens and ward clerks.

The Tuesday, Nov. 5 election will take place at the Tiger Gym at Biddeford High School on Maplewood Avenue from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

– Managing Editor Dina Mendros can be contacted at 780-9014 or dmendros@journaltribune.com