{"id":12656,"date":"2026-09-25T19:07:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T19:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/matthew-steinback\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T14:15:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T14:15:00","slug":"matthew-steinback","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/matthew-steinback\/","title":{"rendered":"Matthew Steinback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Previous Offices Held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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None<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Top Three Priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1) Keep Gorham schools safe, supportive and academically strong. \n2) Strengthen student mental-health resources, substance-use prevention and early intervention resources. \n3) Promote responsible, transparent budgeting that connects spending to measurable outcomes while considering students, families, educators and taxpayers.<\/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 strong schools shape our students\u2019 lives and Gorham\u2019s future. As a father, behavioral-health executive and clinician, I believe concern should be matched by contribution. I want to bring practical leadership, careful analysis and accountability to the school committee \u2014 listening to differing perspectives and making informed decisions for students, families, educators and taxpayers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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What is the biggest challenge facing your area\u2019s schools? The biggest opportunity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I think the biggest challenge is meeting students\u2019 academic, social-emotional and behavioral needs while maintaining strong instruction and respecting taxpayers. Our greatest opportunity is connecting resources to measurable results, including supporting our educators, intervening earlier when students struggle, strengthening mental health and substance-use prevention\/resources, and communicating clearly with families and the community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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A top issue for many parents is the age of Maine\u2019s school infrastructure. How would you address this issue locally from your position on the school board?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I would support a transparent, long-range facilities plan based on independent assessments, safety, educational need, enrollment and total life-cycle cost. We should prioritize preventive maintenance, address urgent\/critical systems first, pursue available state aid and grants, and collaobrate closely with the Town Council. Residents deserve clear options, costs and timelines before major borrowing or construction decisions are made.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Do you think the state government is too involved in local schooling? Not involved enough? The right amount of involved? Explain your answer.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I believe Maine\u2019s balance is generally appropriate. The state should set clear academic and safety standards and provide equitable, dependable funding, while local communities retain authority over programs, staffing and implementation. State requirements should be developed with meaningful district input and matched with adequate resources. Local boards and committees must remain transparent and accountable for results.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12833,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Matthew","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Michael","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Steinback","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":12654,"voter_guide_candidate_age":42,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Chief Operating Officer and Clinical Director for the Courage Center in Gorham; behavioral-health executive and licensed clinician.","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"Gorham father of two students and a behavioral-health executive and licensed clinician with nearly 20 years of leadership and 14 years in integrated healthcare settings.","voter_guide_candidate_education":"Master's in Psychology (2014); bachelor\u2019s degree in Psychology with a business concentration (2006); specialized education and professional training in addiction treatment (2011)","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1PRkYngQthFE-aRkHxVYRKK4WzjzdDWl1","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","footnotes":""},"vg_party":[1073],"vg_residence_municipality":[],"class_list":["post-12656","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\/12656","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":2,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12834,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/12656\/revisions\/12834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=12656"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=12656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}