{"id":12545,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/jessica-sargent\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T12:32:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T12:32:12","slug":"jessica-sargent","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/jessica-sargent\/","title":{"rendered":"Jessica Sargent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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First time running for office<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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My priorities are: 1. resilient infrastructure, including stormwater and flood preparedness; 2. balanced growth in appropriate areas that conserves open space and protects water resources, supports efficient and durable development, and expands workforce housing and affordable options for retirees; and 3. fiscally responsible budgeting and clear communication about taxes and major investments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I am running because local decisions shape our daily lives: safe roads and neighborhoods, taxes, schools, housing, natural resources, and the quality of public services. I want to bring careful analysis, a collaborative approach and clear communication to town government, so residents understand the choices before us and have a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect our future.<\/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 managing growth and rising costs while maintaining safe, reliable infrastructure, public services, conserved lands and water, and the community character that residents value. Our biggest opportunity is planning ahead: direct growth to appropriate areas, prioritize workforce housing, support affordable options for retirees and others at every stage of life, make smart long-term investments, strengthen climate and flood resilience, and involve residents early in decisions.<\/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 strengthen early, plain-language public communication about major town decisions \u2014 especially budgets, development proposals and long-term capital projects. Residents should be able to see the options, costs, advantages, tradeoffs and timeline before decisions are nearly final. Better information and earlier engagement would improve trust, reduce surprises and lead to stronger decisions.<\/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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I support well-planned development, including housing, when it matches infrastructure capacity, protects water resources and open space, and includes meaningful public input. Growth should expand workforce housing and affordable options for retirees, not shift costs to existing residents or undermine neighborhood safety and community character. The question is not simply whether to grow, but where, how and for whom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12796,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Jessica","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Marie","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Sargent","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":12443,"voter_guide_candidate_age":47,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Small-business owner, conservation policy consultant","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"Conservation economist and community volunteer with experience in research, public engagement and local policy communication. Committed to practical, transparent local government.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"B.S. in natural resources, M.S. in ecology and environmental sciences, both from the University of Maine","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1qXQuujwb_F_iAjZ1G9-Sz7CL7-V1-Jrr","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-12545","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\/12545","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\/12545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12546,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12545\/revisions\/12546"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=12545"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=12545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}