Two well-known figures in local political circles are up for re-election on Nov. 3, and there’s another healthy turnout of candidates for the Freeport Sewer District Trustees.

Melanie Sachs, chairwoman of the Town Council, goes against Doreen Christ, who has plenty of political experience but is running for the at-large seat in Freeport for the first time. In the other seat to fill, Jennifer Worthy is a write-in candidate for District 4 councilor. Both are for three-year terms.

In Regional School Unit 5, Chairman Nelson Larkins, who has served on the board since the inception of RSU 5 in 2009 – with the exception of about two weeks last fall – is vying for office with fellow incumbent John Morang and political newcomer Jeremy Clough, an information and cybersecurity officer at Gorham Savings Bank. Louise Brogan, a writing specialist at Bates College, is running unopposed for a one-year term on the RSU 5 board.

The election campaigning has been low-key. Sachs said she is putting out campaign signs, and “having daily conversations about issues, literally all over town.”

Christ said she is handing out brochures to the public.

Few Freeport candidates are posting signs during this off-year election. A survey of three popular local spots for signs turned up just a few.

Larkins, a familiar figure at the helm of RSU 5 board meetings, finished third in a four-way race for two open seats last November. But the Town Council voted him back on the school board following the resignation of Peter Murray, who was chairman of the Freeport Withdrawal Committee. At his first meeting back, board members elected him as chairman.

“My campaigning is generally word of mouth, meet and greet, and information in the newspapers,” Larkins said.

The interest in serving on the Freeport Sewer District Trustees is not new, according to Leland Arris, general manager of the Freeport Sewer District. Arris said that elections for sewer district trustees have drawn high interest since he started on the job six years ago. This year is no exception, as four people are competing for three terms of three years, and there are two candidates for a one-year term created when Clinton Goodenow stepped down. Goodenow will be on the ballot nevertheless, as he and Wilson Woodbury seek a one-year term left by the resignation of Garrett Simmons.

Michael Ashby, James Harriman, Sara Randall and Andrew Sachs are the candidates for the three-year terms.

Arris said that much of the interest in the sewer district trustees comes from people who make their living along the waters of the Harraseeket River and Casco Bay.

“There’s a very strong environmental concern,” Arris said. “It’s just been one strong, progressive movement toward environmental concerns. The clamming industry has been successful in changing the direction of the board.”

Arris explained that, six years ago, the Freeport Sewer District had rocky relationships with both the Department of Marine Resources and Department of Environmental Protection. There were violations of permits to put effluent into the river, he said.

“It was a difficult time,” Arris said. “There have been upgrades at the plant since then. It’s taken a while to change that around.”

Revenue is another issue that has helped generate interest in serving on the sewer district board, Arris said. Users are one source of sewer district revenue, and the fees to new customers – some of them businesses – is another, he said.

“There is a sentiment at the Town Hall that connection fees are too high,” Arris said. “That’s not my sentiment, and that’s not the board’s sentiment.”

Michael Crowley and his wife, Claudia, standing next to him, register to vote Thursday at the Freeport Town Hall with Mary Howe, deputy town clerk. The Crowleys recently moved to Freeport from New Jersey.Staff photo by Larry Grard