{"id":12373,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/matthew-shaw-boulerice\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:07:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:48","slug":"matthew-shaw-boulerice","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/matthew-shaw-boulerice\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Shaw Boulerice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Candidate for Mayor of Waterville in 2023 \u2014 lost. No previous elected office held. Previously served on the Waterville Planning Board and Waterville Housing Committee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. Public safety, homelessness and recovery: compassion with expectations and accountability. 2. Economic growth, housing and a stronger tax base. 3. More focused, effective city leadership that brings the right people together, sets measurable goals and follows through.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I\u2019m running because Waterville has tremendous people, institutions and potential, but too often we identify problems without turning good ideas into action. I want to bring people together around common ground, set clear priorities and use the mayor\u2019s office to create urgency, build consensus and deliver measurable progress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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What is the biggest challenge facing your town\/county? The biggest opportunity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Our biggest challenge is restoring confidence that city government can effectively address problems residents and businesses see every day, particularly public safety, housing and economic pressure. Our biggest opportunity is Waterville itself: two colleges, a hospital, a strong downtown, great neighborhoods and people ready to invest. Better coordination and focused leadership can turn those assets into growth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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If you could change one thing about how the town\/county functions, what would it be and why?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I would create a stronger culture of focus and follow-through. Waterville has talented staff, residents and community partners, but too many issues can become long-running conversations. I want clearer priorities, defined goals, the right people at the table and accountability for results. Government should measure success by what actually improves for residents, not by how many meetings are held.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Do you support more development \u2013 i.e. more housing construction and business building in your town\/county? Why or why not?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Yes. Thoughtful development is essential to Waterville\u2019s future. More housing creates options for families and workers, while business investment creates jobs and expands the tax base. Growth should respect neighborhoods and infrastructure, but saying no to growth is not a strategy. We should make Waterville a place where responsible investment is welcomed and good projects can move forward efficiently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7215,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Matthew","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Shaw","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Boulerice","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"None","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":12371,"voter_guide_candidate_age":36,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Business owner, real estate developer, laundromat operator and real estate broker","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"Local business owner, real estate developer and broker. Former Waterville Planning Board and Housing Committee member; 2025 Central Maine Growth Council Developer of the Year.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Scarborough High School","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1XZDUnqHsAHh4Lqv4SxFOO_dk4osBGJFL","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[564],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-12373","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-republican"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/candidate"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12374,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12373\/revisions\/12374"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=12373"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=12373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}