{"id":12484,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/charles-lou-simms-iii\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T19:07:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:50","slug":"charles-lou-simms-iii","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/charles-lou-simms-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Lou Simms III"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Successfully ran for town council in 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We need to support our schools \u2013 not a blank check, but smart investments for our community\u2019s future. To achieve this goal while minimizing tax burdens on current homeowners, we must evolve Gorham\u2019s approach to land-use regulations. We must thoroughly consider all the costs and benefits of prospective development, and assess the net impacts for our community. There isn\u2019t much fluff in our current budgets, so our best option is new development that adds more value than it costs our community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2023, I ran for council because it took three referendum votes to get our school budget passed. I watched that 2023 council struggle, and I wanted to offer my experience to help Gorham better manage our budget challenges. I have learned so much over the past three years \u2013 and we are making some progress, but not fast enough for those who are struggling to keep up with rising costs. I am running to help Gorham make informed decisions that support our kids, our community, and our quality of life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">What is the biggest challenge facing your town\/county? The biggest opportunity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gorham is a great place to raise a family. Our son can walk to school K-12. Gorham has epic trails, and with some thoughtful planning we can continue enhancing our trail network for more practical connectivity, safely separated from the highways cutting through our community.\nUSM offers a distinct economic opportunity that Gorham should work to better cultivate. The more we force new housing further out of town, the more we squander our remaining open spaces.  Good businesses need good people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">If you could change one thing about how the town\/county functions, what would it be and why?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We need leadership that values the input of our residents, and prioritizes our quality of life above the private profits of a few corporate interests. We must adapt our development strategy to meet current conditions. At Gorham\u2019s 2022 revaluation, our residential properties skyrocketed in value, while industrial land saw lesser increases and lower tax bills for some. We need more thorough cost-benefit analysis of prospective developments.  And we need to invest in our kids: they are our future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-e44e021b wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-h-4-font-size\">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<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-left is-style-short-red\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I want to preserve our open spaces. Different types of development bring very different costs and benefits to our community.  Station Square houses 30 apartments above great local businesses like Junction Bowl, and generates more property tax revenue than most any building in our industrial park, all while adding few (if any) kids to our schools and creating an excellent place to gather and build community. Beyond the tax math, we should focus on development that improves our quality of life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":10912,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Charles \"Lou\"","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Simms","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":12480,"voter_guide_candidate_age":44,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Senior investment officer, Maine Technology Institute","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"My wife grew up in Gorham and we moved here with our son (now 8, at Village Elementary) from Portland, to be closer to family.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Master\u2019s in Resource Administration & Management, University of New Hampshire (2014) while helping run an excellent small business in Portland called Bayside Bowl; Bachelor of Arts, International Studies: a mix of economics, history, and political science, University of Southern Maine (2007).","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1Lh9ojU1F-oU_BRJacTasM0xI9wxZBPb1","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-12484","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-democratic"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12484","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\/12484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12485,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12484\/revisions\/12485"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=12484"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=12484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}