The Scarborough Town Council candidates are mostly in agreement about the need for better and more open communication with residents, as well as keeping property tax increases at or below 3 percent year to year.

The four candidates running for the two seats available on the council this fall answered a series of questions from residents and local media during a candidates forum held at Town Hall on Oct. 13, sponsored by the Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce.

Running for the Town Council are incumbent Bill Donovan, former Board of Education member Annalee Rosenblatt and political newcomers Marjorie DeSanctis and Kathleen “Katy” Foley.

Donovan, council chairman, said he’s proud of his record the past three years, which includes encouraging civil discourse among councilors, more open government and “good budget management with no erratic tax hikes.”

DeSanctis has served on the board at Camp Ketcha and is also a member of the town’s Housing Alliance. She believes her background in project management and finance would be of benefit to the board.

Foley is most known in town as one of the co-founders of the Dog Owners of Greater Scarborough group, which has passionately advocated for continued beach access for dogs and their owners. She is also a co-founder of the Scarborough Kindness Project, and said that her passion is helping people.

Rosenblatt said in her decades of living in Scarborough she’s “walked the walk of community service,” including being a member of the town’s most recent charter review and comprehensive plan committees and its 350th committee. In addition, she’s a member of the Scarborough Kiwanis Club and said her years as a labor negotiator has given her the right skil-sets to serve on the Town Council.

In terms of the council being open and transparent with the public, DeSanctis, who is a council watcher, said she’s “seen a change for the better in the last several years” and that the council is “moving in the right direction.” However, she also said that citizens have a responsibility, as well, to make sure that they are asking questions.

Foley said that “open government and transparency is something I am really passionate about,” and said that it’s important for people to learn to talk to each other, especially when they have opposing viewpoints.

Donovan pointed to several changes that have taken place recently, including the ability to email all seven councilors using only one tab on the town website. He also said that the town is “posting virtually every financial document online” and is taking steps to make those reports “user friendly.”

Rosenblatt agreed with DeSanctis that “outreach and communication have improved tremendously,” but she would also like to see even more openness about the costs of various programs, as well as being more transparent about their long-term impact.

As for limiting tax increases, all four candidates said it’s vitally important that the town control costs, but most also said they would not be in favor of passing a charter amendment that would limit the overall property tax increase to a certain percentage each year.

Donovan said it’s been a high priority of the current council to keep the combined municipal and school budget increase at 3 percent or less “on a sustained basis,” but also said it would be “imprudent to adopt a hard and fast rule due to some things being out of our control.”

Foley said she would be more than happy to “beg, borrow or steal best practices” in terms of budgeting from other communities or states, but agreed with Donovan that “we should also be careful of (adopting) any hard and fast rules.”

Rosenblatt would be in favor of some type of “safeguard” and said that “having a limit makes people more accountable and efficient.”

She was also the only one who said she’d be in favor of reviewing the charter to set a budgeting limit.

DeSanctis agreed there are benefits to “conducting cost-benefit analysis, in order to get the best bang for the buck,” but also said she would not be in favor of creating “a firm line because there are unforeseen circumstances.”

All four candidates also agreed last week that Scarborough is a wonderful community to live in and because of its attractiveness, the council has to be mindful about controlling both the rate of growth, along with the overall costs of housing.

“People do want to come here,” Rosenblatt said. “Affordability is also an issue. I think we need balance and need to look at what is the ideal mix.”

Foley agreed, and said that along with managing Scarborough’s economic development, the town should not lose sight of the value of conservation and keeping open space.

All four candidates also said they support a new public safety building, but only two, Donovan and DeSanctis, support the creation of a new sustainability coordinator position, which was approved in the current budget.

For the Board of Education, there is no contest for the two open seats, which are being sought by incumbents Cari Lyford and Jodie Shea. Running for one of two open seats on the Scarborough Sanitary District board is newcomer Aubrey Strause. The name of longtime sanitary district trustee David Nelson, who died Oct. 3, also in on the ballot.

Preparing for the candidate forum last week are Scarborough council candidates, from left, Marjorie DeSanctis, Bill Donovan, Katy Foley and Annalee Rosenblatt.