BRUNSWICK

With less than a week before state and local elections, seven of the nine candidates for Town Council and School Board outlined their positions during a public forum Wednesday.

Daniel Hammond Jr., a 2002 Brunswick High School graduate who works as a supervisor at Bath Iron Works, is running for School Board in District 6 but was unable to attend due to work obligations.

Also absent was District 2 School Board incumbent Brenda Clough, who is unopposed.

All of the candidates had campaigned for weeks, so there were no surprises in their answers Wednesday.

However, a testy race between District 1 School Board incumbent Rich Ellis and challenger Byron Watson, a former school board member, grew chippier as discussion progressed.

Watson criticized the current board for what he described as annual budget increases that resulted in corresponding spikes in the property tax rate.

“The answer isn’t always just raising taxes every year,” Watson said. “We can’t lose sight of … that when teaching is the focus, the children will be served best.”

Ellis corrected Watson on his budget statements, after the challenger twice characterized the school budget as containing a “$3 million annual surplus” while suggesting that Brunswick’s municipal operating budget had decreased “by $1 million.”

The municipal budget actually increased in Fiscal Year 2013, but tax rates were held to a 6.9 percent increase because of departmental budget cuts and surplus funds used to offset the increases.

Ellis alluded to Watson’s prior School Board tenure in 2008, during which he was forced to resign after sending “inappropriate” email messages to then-Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hannah Pingree.

Ellis said he decided to run because, “at the time, when we most needed our school board to be focused … all you could see on television and in the newspapers were disruptions being caused by my current opponent in this race.”

Watson, in turn, linked Ellis to the mysterious, abrupt departure of former high school Principal Art Abelmann in May:

“I wasn’t planning to run this year, but after our children were put in danger by the high school principal debacle, my phone was ringing off the hook with citizens asking me to run,” Watson said.

Watson later acknowledged that he did not know the specifics of Abelmann’s resignation and had not intended to accuse the former administrator of inappropriate behavior.

He also clarified his remarks about putting students in unsafe conditions, saying that he was referring to school facilities that are deteriorating to the point where major and costly renovation — or outright replacement — is needed.

Janet Connors, the District 6 school board incumbent who faces a challenge from Hammond, spoke of maintaining a high quality of education through implementation of merit-based pay for teachers and a townwide pre-Kindergarten program as soon as budget and building space allow.

“We have a money and space issue in implementing it, and we just can’t swing it right now,” she said.

Ellis and Watson, too, favored implementation of a pre-school program.

Also in District 6, Alison Harris and Jane Millett are competing for the Council seat being vacated by Margo Knight.

Harris is a longtime volunteer with People Plus and also has served on numerous municipal committees; Millett is a local Realtor who also serves as an officer with the Brunswick Town Democratic Committee.

All of the council candidates spoke of the importance of maintaining Brunswick’s downtown “walkability” and diversity, as well as protection of its coastline and natural resources that make the town attractive to new residents.

They also pledged financial sensibility to preserve the integrity of the town’s infrastructure, as well as keep a lid on tax increases.

District 1 Council incumbent David Watson and District 2 candidate Steve Walker are running unopposed.

Aside from the few sharp exchanges between Ellis and Watson, all candidates were well-mannered and deferential for moderator Don Kniseley.

Brunswick Downtown Association’s executive director, Deb King, kept the speakers within their allotted times with a small dinner bell and a cartoonishsounding quacking duck call. However, her disciplinary measures often resulted in humor as well as brevity, as candidates grew to anticipate the irreverent deadline and continued speaking just to hear the comical effects.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com