James R. (Jim) Vallette
Southwest Harbor Select Board
Campaign Website link (if any) or a way for people to learn more about you/get in touch with you: No website. People can learn about my work and small business, Material Research, at www.materialresearch.world, or LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-vallette/. I’m not very active on Facebook, but I’m there sometimes, too.
Occupation: President of Material Research L3C, a low-profit global supply chain investigations company based in Southwest Harbor.
Family you’d like to mention: My wife Eliza, a brilliant singer, aspiring pianist, and decent cribbage player.
Previous public office positions or appointments: Warrant Committee of Southwest Harbor, 2019 to 2022. Appointed to Acadia Disposal District as Southwest Harbor’s director in 2023, current select board member.
THE QUESTIONS:
Why are you hoping to be on the Southwest Harbor Select Board?
I first ran for select board in 2022 because I had been observing town politics for a while, most recently as a member of the Warrant Committee. Lots of projects were kind of stuck, and there was a lot of controversy over small things. There was turnover on boards and committees and the town office.
Since Natasha Johnson and I joined the board three years ago, the town has stabilized and is back to work. We have been checking off a lot of projects that were past due. For example: There’s a new harbormaster’s office, and an awesome new harbormaster and assistant. We fixed up the Manset lot. Those were big priorities of the Harbor Committee. We hired a terrific new town manager, doing our own due diligence, without needing the help of outside law firms. The Main Street project is almost finished at last. We obtained a $2.4 million federal grant for the town garage. We dredged long-neglected Goog’s Pond, which is back to being a water reservoir for firefighting and a place to skate and picnic in the middle of town. We approved transferring land from Maine Coast Heritage Trust to the town as part of our Chris’ Pond town park. We have a fully staffed police department and are saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by sharing their services with the Town of Tremont. We are investing undesignated funds in secure CDs, earning guaranteed returns. And our town staff is top notch in every department.
We are addressing complex issues with the help of staff and our deep bench of community experts. There are a lot of people in town, new and old, who want to share their skills and knowledge. Together, we can figure anything out. We are about to consider the next phase of development ideas from the Conservation Commission for Chris’ Pond. A new joint task force with Tremont will be figuring common solutions for our ambulance services. Our Sustainability Committee is figuring out ways to deal with our rising housing and solid waste costs, and our growing vulnerability to heavy weather and fire caused by global industrial pollution.
I am asking for our residents’ vote so I can help continue our work together for another three years.
What are the major differences between you and the other candidate(s) seeking this post?
If the reader is a voter trying to decide between me and Natasha, please, choose Natasha! Because of her expertise in many town-related issues, she often has information that helps me understand an issue before we make decisions. Her kind of leadership is key to our town’s future. I can’t remember anything of significance on which we have disagreed.
I do not yet know about the two challengers’ current positions on issues like Chris’ Pond and polluted groundwater. I look forward to learning more as the campaign continues.
What are some similarities?
We are all small businesspeople. The other three candidates are well respected and known in our community and their families have very deep roots. I was not born here although two of my siblings were :) some 43 years ago. I went to MDI and am a proud member of the Class of ’82. I have lived on the island most my life, worked on the water for 9 summers as a deckhand/tour guide, was a reporter in various forms for about 10 years, and I have lived in Southwest Harbor for the last 27 years. But technically, I guess I am “from away” – possibly the first ever to serve on the SWH Select Board. I have great respect the true locals and what they do for our community – and equally so: newer arrivals and everyone who contributes to the fabric of our awesome town.
What do you see as the top issues facing Southwest Harbor and how would your presence on the board help with those issues?
In no particular order …
Housing. Our new Housing subcommittee is getting busy, and I look forward to their recommendations. II will work to ensure that incentives are developed to protect year-round residents, both property owners and renters, from being priced off the island. We recently asked our assessors, for example, to start crediting property owners who place long-term covenants that ensure any future use will be as affordable year-round residences.
Solid Waste. Our new Solid Waste subcommittee will be making recommendations for reducing our solid waste disposal costs including through new recycling programs. In my first term, I helped to renegotiate our contract with the local transfer station. The new contract creates new possibilities that could decrease our municipal budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
Water Contamination. The been a plume of toxic pollution near to the closed landfill in town. This problem has existed since I was in high school but has not been talked about much. This pollution (PFAS andtoxic solvents) was discovered in Marshall Brook Road residents’ wells 25 years ago. . I am working with the Acadia Disposal District to try and redirect some grant money towards capping the old landfill and help stop the pollution from spreading. I would like to have more dialogue with the independent SWH Water & Sewer District. It’s not an easy fix, monetarily, given the current climate. I am sure we can find a solution and common ground among all parties if we can have a transparent discussion going forward.
Town Garage. Early in my term, the Buy American Act created a pool of federal funds for municipal projects that use U.S.-made materials. I asked our engineer and town manager to find out whether our town garage could apply. It did, and we have a $2.4 million USDA grant in hand. It will need to secure voter approval for a 33% match; if approved, we can finally have a safe place for our Public Works team and equipment.
Other issues. In her first term, Natasha Johnson has been a leader in addressing some other vulnerabilities and challenges, such as climate change impacts, the fate of Seawall Road, and the need for bidding out more contracts and having more in-house engineering capacity to assess bids. I share her perspective and appreciate the knowledge she brings to those discussions. And of course, rising taxes, which I address next.
Can you speak to tax increases in town and how those with fixed incomes can handle them?
Long-term covenants that reduce property taxes will benefit owners and renters on fixed incomes. Covenants can support rented properties that are year-round and affordable. They also can benefit property owners who guarantee that any future use of property will be for affordable, year-round housing. Now that our assessors recognize the validity of such covenants (as has been standard practice in Bar Harbor and Mt. Desert), let’s see how far we can push this. It is past time to establish procedures like this that make our community more affordable for people on fixed incomes.
Unfortunately, many drivers of our tax increases are beyond the direct control of the select board. We have been separated from decisions of the Water & Sewer District, and we had a huge increase this year due to the new construction bond. Our County Taxes doubled in just a few years. We are being charged a higher proportion of the school system’s assessment than before based on a formula change.
In addition, there have been increases in our labor costs, through union negotiations and other raises. These are needed because we need to match our surrounding communities’ increasing pay rates. We are at the end of the road, with little available housing, and this makes it difficult to attract people here.
Our fire department needs paid staff because local volunteers have been on decline because of age, moves, and less participation from local Coast Guard families. Hopefully we can get more participation and reduce the need for paid firefighters.
There are continuing inequities in tax revenues, especially when it comes to solid waste: households are subsidizing large commercial waste generators because the town pays for everything that enters the transfer station gate from all properties in town.
Also, some properties in town had not been revaluated for more than 15 years, way more than is standard. Last year’s assessment raised taxes quite a lot for those properties, for example in the Salem Towne Woods area. People on fixed income are really feeling that.
What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?
I like to be a leader who listens. I love to hear from anybody in town so I can understand your concerns and ideas. This includes people who are not year-round residents but have ties to the town: workers and business-owners who commute here, people who live here seasonally, etc. I’d especially love to hear from new residents and workers and hear about any challenges they face. Our job is to serve everyone in town.
Why are you running? How does your why for running delve into your deeper life purpose?
I try to live the bumper sticker, “Think Globally, Act Locally.” In my regular job, I track supply chains around the world for my small business, Material Research L3C. We work on some big issues like chemical disasters, toxic pollution, data security, and human rights. Because of this work, I have a kind of radar for justice wherever it is needed. When things seemed broken in town, it was my turn to step up. When they are fixed as best as I can help, I will gladly step away. I don’t like the spotlight, but I will try my best while it’s my turn.