Pratt

A field of four candidates is seeking a pair of three-year terms on the Gorham Town Council, while two incumbents will not appear on the municipal ballot Nov. 5.

Three candidates are seeking a pair of three-year terms on the School Committee, with one incumbent out of the race.

The deadline to file candidate nominations for both boards was Sept. 5.

The council candidates are James Hager Jr., Janet Kuech, George Vercelli and David Willis. Hager and Kuech are former members of the board.

Lee Pratt and Virginia Wilder Cross are not seeking reelection to the council. Pratt, a former chair, has been on the board six years.

Wilder Cross

“I have been weighing the pros and cons over the last year,” Pratt said in an email Monday to the American Journal. “While I love being on the Town Council and serving the people, it’s time for me to step down and be a father and husband first.”

Pratt, who has a son and daughter, said he has missed games, birthdays and awards. He said that when he signs up for something, he’s 100% in and that “needs to be my family moving forward.”

Wilder Cross has been active in several community and municipal capacities.

“I’ve been incredibly honored to have served two terms (six years), but it’s time for me to step down and move to whatever comes next,” she said in an email Monday. “There are so many other ways to be involved in this wonderful town … (I) just need to decide which direction is right for me at this point in my life.”

School Committee candidates are Marilyn Amoroso, Eric Thistle and incumbent Nicole Yeo-Fisher. Incumbent Anne Schools, a former board chair, is not seeking reelection. Schools said Monday in an email she took out papers for the Town Council, but didn’t turn them in.

“After a lot of thought, and serving six years on the School Committee, I decided to take a little break to focus on my career and family,” Schools said. “I look forward to running either for the School Committee or the Town Council at some point in the near future.”