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I have had the honor of serving as a Penobscot County commissioner for 36 years. During that time I have worked with my fellow commissioners to help make Penobscot County a leader and example to other counties of the services counties can provide to citizens beyond the traditional areas of courthouse government and jails.
During that time I have served with many people who shared the goal of improving the professionalism of our staff and our ability to better serve our citizens. I was fortunate to have served with Tom Davis for 30 years. I learned that you can disagree without being disagreeable. We had mutual respect and always looked at what would be the best result for our citizens. An important battle we took on was to have the county handle emergency dispatch service for the entire county. We had legal battles, including with the City of Bangor, and ultimately succeeded in establishing a great dispatch center. Every community in Penobscot County benefited from this service.
We also changed from a county clerk system to a professional administrative system by hiring our first administrator, Bill Collins. Bill helped lead us forward and greatly improved our relations with municipal administrators and administered our budget and handled our daily business.
We have many challenges going forward. How do you balance the needs of our correctional system with the significant cost of building new; if there is a new jail, what to do with the existing jail; and how to redevelop the Bangor YMCA property.
I firmly believe that Dan Tremble is the best person to represent our district and bring his experience as a former county treasurer, current city councilor and former mayor of Bangor for the benefit of our county. He has the judgment and experience needed to lead the county into the future.
Peter K. Baldacci
Bangor
