NAPLES — Voters Nov. 5 will choose a Selectboard member to fill the remaining two years of a three-year term, ending in June 2021.
Caleb Humphrey, Rick Paraschak and Patty Raitto are running for the seat, left empty when Rich Cebra resigned in July without giving an explanation.
Caleb Humphrey
Party affiliation: Republican
Occupation: Mechanic
Education: High school
Political/civic experience: Naples Budget Committee
Rick Paraschak
Age: 65
Family: Divorced, two children
Occupation: Engineering tech MaineDOT/small business owner
Education: High school
Political/civic experience: Naples Selectman, Planning Board, School Board, Budget Committee, Board of Directors-Evergreen Credit Union, Naples firefighter/EMT
Website/social media: Earthsolutionsmaine.com or on Facebook: Rick Paraschak
Patty Raitto
Party affiliation: Democrat
Family: Married, three grown children, one grandchild
Occupation: District math coach RSU 14
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Fairfield University; master’s degree,University of Southern Maine; Maine Mathematics Coaching Graduate Program, University of Maine Farmington
Political/civic experience: Campaign involvement, education advocacy
Website/social media: https://sites.google.com/grsu14.org/mathcoachcorner/home
Humphrey said he chose to run because “we have the same people in the town do the same things and nothing ever changes and we don’t get any results.”
Naples has “no actual plans for the future and the town and where it wants to go,” he said, and he’d like to work on economic development and making the town more pleasant for people who live there year-round.
Humphrey would like to create sustainable, year-round jobs so that residents aren’t relying on three months of the year for income: “If we don’t have a good summer, nobody makes any money up here.”
“I’m just trying to make it a little bit better for everybody,” he said.
Paraschak, who has previously served on the Selectboard, was motivated to run again because he would “like to once again share my experiences and my knowledge of civil engineering and public works with the town and the board.”
He would focus on encouraging business growth and keeping local businesses in town, especially through ordinance changes, expansion of the town’s causeway area and a water or sewer system: “It’s awful hard to take a small lot size and make a nice business out of it if you don’t have sewer or water.”
Paraschak said his main concern is “just to make sure that businesses and residents in Naples can survive together. I think that’s what we need for a balanced tax rate.”
Raitto, a resident of Naples for 25 years, said she has reached the point “where I’m feeling like I can breathe and devote a little more time to the town.”
She would like to help the town “define itself and think about the future,” including the creation of “a balance between supporting a seasonal economy and maintaining the peaceful environment of the Lakes Region.”
Because “the businesses in Naples really have 12 weeks to make the money,” she said, she would like to support those local businesses as well as both seasonal and year-round residents.
“It’s important that we find a way to support (businesses) so that people still want to come to Naples, but at the same time preserve the beauty of the town and what we believe people come to town for,” Raitto said.
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