3 candidates are vying for 2 seats on the Old Town City Council

Three candidates are vying for two seats on the Old Town City Council in next week’s election, including two incumbents who aim to keep their seats for another three years. 

Council president Timothy Folster and councilor Carol May are running for re-election while Zachary Wyles, a recent University of Maine graduate, is working to secure a seat on the seven-member council.

Folster and Wyles both identified economic development as a key issue to address if elected.

May did not respond to multiple requests for comment from the Bangor Daily News.

Residents can vote early at City Hall until Nov. 3. City Hall is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Drop boxes for absentee ballots are located inside City Hall, and there is an additional, 24-hour drop box behind City Hall. Information about requesting absentee ballots is available through the secretary of state’s office.

In-person voting will be held Tuesday, Nov. 8 at the Elks Lodge at 37 Fourth St., from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Candidates are included below in the order they appear on the ballot. 

Zachary Wyles 

Wyles is a recent UMaine graduate and a former student body president. He graduated last May and has been working with a nonprofit that supports student governments, he said. 

Wyles is originally from Alton, grew up in Old Town and attended Regional School Unit 34 schools, he said. After graduating from UMaine, Wyles said he felt he needed to stay in Old Town and work to improve the city. 

“Old Town raised me. I would be remiss if I didn’t come up with some ways to give back to the city that brought me up,” he said. 

Wyles said he thinks the biggest challenges facing residents of Old Town are similar to what many in Maine are facing: economic hardship and food insecurity. 

Wyles said he wants to continue work already happening on the City Council to rebuild Old Town’s economy. 

“I want to make sure that we’re investing into our local economies — mom-and-pop businesses — and finding ways to bolster Old Town,” he said. “I would just like to work alongside the other councilors and find some new and creative ways to do that.”

If elected, Wyles, 22, would be the council’s youngest member.

In Old Town, there is a sense of a cultural divide between longtime residents and UMaine students who often find housing in the city, Wyles said.

Wyles said being young is a strength, and he can infuse new ideas and energy into the council.  

“My No. 1 priority would be the citizens of Old Town. We need to make sure that we’re investing in housing for permanent citizens,” he said. “But a lot of people can’t seem to come to grips with the idea that whether we like it or not, a lot of students are going to live in Old Town temporarily.”

Carol May

May did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 

May grew up in Old Town and has served on the City Council for many years. She was most recently re-elected in 2019. 

She retired in December 2020 from the Penobscot Times after 50 years at the community paper. 

May attended Old Town High School and UMaine, majoring in English. 

Timothy Folster 

Folster, the council president, is seeking a second term to continue the work he’s been a part of in revitalizing the city’s downtown. 

Folster grew up in Old Town and has lived in the city for his whole life. For much of his professional career, he worked for the Sargent Corporation in Stillwater. 

If re-elected, Folster said he wants to continue the economic development progress that has occurred since he was elected. Part of that involves paving the way for more housing and working with UMaine to develop some of the property it holds in the city. 

“The key, every year with inflation and costs keep going up, you have to keep expanding the tax base so it doesn’t fall on the mill rate,” he said. “I think we have made some progress downtown, and I want to build on that.”

Folster said he wants to build on work to revitalize the city’s downtown, which has seen a steady flow of new restaurants and businesses following a devastating fire in 2019. Folster was elected to the council that year.

Part of that economic development is expanding the city’s housing supply, but an important part of that conversation is balancing apartment-style options with single-family homes, Folster said. 

“I think we need to have a more comprehensive look because there are people that are concerned with the numbers of apartments being built,” Folster said. “But if that’s all that people can afford, with the price of building materials and everything so high, it seems like apartments are the only thing that people can build.”

Also important is the need to keep the city’s mill rate — currently $21 for every $1,000 in property value — as low as possible to ensure Old Town is affordable, he said. 

“I think we have a very good council in the city, and I’m sure whoever the citizens elect to the next council will continue that,” Folster said. “We all seem to be working towards the same thing, and I think that is great.”