{"id":2466,"date":"2026-05-22T00:01:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T00:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/michele-varuolo-cole\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T15:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T15:53:14","slug":"michele-varuolo-cole","status":"publish","type":"candidate","link":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/candidates\/michele-varuolo-cole\/","title":{"rendered":"Michele Varuolo Cole"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

About the candidate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Having grown up in western Maine and living in Bethel nearly all my adult life, I am wholly familiar with the town and region. I work locally in an entrepreneurial and small business environment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Education<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Graduate of Mt. Blue High School in Farmington; bachelor of science, University of Vermont<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Previous campaigns and elected office(s) held<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Elected to three-year terms on Bethel Select Board in 2019 and 2023, also ran in 2022; elected to three-year terms on Bethel Board of Assessors in 2020 and 2023<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Top three priorities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

To optimize the performance of existing municipal services and programs as\nan elected official in an oversight role and conduit to community concerns.\nTo support common sense and realistic municipal budgeting that balances the\nneeds of the community with available resources.\nTo facilitate an effective update to the Bethel Comprehensive Plan and related\namendment of ordinances which support the plan\u2019s goals and objectives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Why are you running?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Having lived in Bethel for over 40 years, I\u2019ve seen it change a great deal. Existing village properties have been rehabilitated, and many second homes have been built. This development is good, but cuts both ways, and one downside is the current lack of housing available to long-term residents. I hope to address this challenge through an effective update of the Comprehensive Plan while seeing that community needs are met through proper and accountable budget practices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

What is the biggest challenge facing your community? The biggest opportunity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

The biggest challenge for the Bethel community is meeting the housing needs for long-term residents and the workforce who are being priced out of the market in Bethel and the larger region. The spinoff prosperity of Sunday River ski area (where I worked for my first 17 years in town) is great but has come with challenges and downsides that are not being fully addressed. My efforts as a selectperson will be focused on these challenges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

If you could change one thing about how your community functions, what would it be and why?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

I think that the select board needs to demand better administration of existing ordinances and work with common sense to amend (or repeal) those rules that no longer make sense. A comprehensive plan update is certainly needed. But what\u2019s the point of updating the comprehensive plan if the related ordinances which support it are going to be ignored.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Do you support more development in your community? Why or why not?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

Yes. I support development that is consistent with the town\u2019s comprehensive plan and supporting ordinances. Residential and commercial development occurs when those with financial resources feel that it is in their best interest to develop or redevelop properties. The town\u2019s job is to steer and encourage said development in a thoughtful manner that is acceptable to the developers and good for the larger community that must live with it after construction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2822,"template":"","meta":{"voter_guide_candidate_first_name":"Michele","voter_guide_candidate_middle_name":"Varuolo","voter_guide_candidate_last_name":"Cole","voter_guide_candidate_suffix":"","voter_guide_candidate_race_id":2458,"voter_guide_candidate_age":64,"voter_guide_candidate_hometown":"","voter_guide_candidate_occupation":"Business manager","voter_guide_candidate_bio":"","voter_guide_candidate_education":"","voter_guide_candidate_years_in_state":0,"voter_guide_candidate_years_in_municipality":42,"voter_guide_candidate_time_in_area":"","voter_guide_candidate_website":"","voter_guide_candidate_headshot_url":"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1NBs0j9OZMiKCAI8d67ItJwGjHMURFKzm","voter_guide_candidate_date_filed":"","voter_guide_candidate_incumbent_years":"","voter_guide_candidate_is_clean_elections":false,"footnotes":""},"vg_party":[818],"vg_residence_municipality":[350],"class_list":["post-2466","candidate","type-candidate","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","vg_party-unenrolled","vg_residence_municipality-bethel"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/2466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/candidate"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/2466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3215,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/candidates\/2466\/revisions\/3215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"vg_party","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_party?post=2466"},{"taxonomy":"vg_residence_municipality","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/voter-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vg_residence_municipality?post=2466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}