{"id":12541,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/r-wayne-werts\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T12:32:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:32:57","slug":"r-wayne-werts","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/r-wayne-werts\/","title":{"rendered":"R. Wayne Werts"},"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\">Elected to Maine House District 70 seat in 2012, defeated in 2014.<\/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\">Having spent some time at council meetings and talking with people in the community, I continue to hear about travel, infrastructure, growth and taxes, as well as, of late, the ICE issue.<\/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\">I am running because I believe my background and experience would be helpful to the debate and discussion. I also believe when you live in a community, you should take the opportunity to get involved if you are able to do so. Doesn\u2019t mean you have to run for council, but maybe a board of your choice.<\/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\">The biggest challenge I can see is growth. Opportunities would be around natural resources here. Scarborough is growing and with proper planning, along with the beautiful areas it has, could really be spectacular.<\/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\">I think traffic and infrastructure need to be looked at, and I would suggest a strong relationship with our representatives and Department of Transportation with open dialogue.<\/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\">As far as development, I think they have laid out a pretty comprehensive guide with their growth ordinance and business should rely of cost benefit to the town. Doesn\u2019t mean you don\u2019t continually review and tweak the program.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12797,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Russell","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Wayne","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Werts","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":12443,"voter_guide_candidate_age":73,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Retired fire chief\/paramedic","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"Served in the 126th Legislature, small-business owner, served on emergency medical board, assistant director for Atlantic Partners EMS","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Associate's degree in fire science","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1FGVXnyekkIrrYGVyjzz3eUBE15R6j6DP","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-12541","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\/12541","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\/12541\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12542,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12541\/revisions\/12542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=12541"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=12541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}