Turner takes on Hayes in House District 94

Photo:

Tim Turner

Photo:

Terry Hayes

OXFORD HILLS — Political newcomer Timothy Turner (R-Buckfield) is running to unseat incumbent Terry Hayes (D-Buckfield) in House District 94, representing Buckfield, Paris, Sumner and Hartford.

Hayes, current Assistant House Democratic Leader, is running for her fourth term in the legislature.

Raised in Portland, Hayes earned a bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College in 1980. She works as a guardian ad litem and is on the Healthy Oxford Hills Advisory Board.

The incumbent says she loves working in the state house and has learned more about the state in her six years as a representative than she ever has.

Turner is a retired 25-year veteran of Maine State Police Troop B, covering Oxford County and currently works as the assistant director of security at Sunday River Ski Resort in Bethel.

A native of Paris, Turner coached football at OHCHS for 14 years and later worked with the Buckfield High School team.

He says he wants to continue to serve his community in the house of representatives. 

Economy

Turner says the state hasn't done enough to reward businesses for bringing jobs to the area. He thinks the state should embrace tax incentives for businesses that bring jobs to Maine communities.

Balancing regulation and environmental concerns is also important, Turner says. As an outdoor enthusiast he loves Maine's wild places but thinks current regulation leans too heavily towards environmental protection.

Hayes says ideology often gets in the way of focusing on  investment and sustainable growth. She says the state needs to focus on creating goals and benchmarks to record economic improvement.

Improving the economy is more complicated than simply tax cuts and deregulation, Hayes says –  the state needs to take a comprehensive look at its economic base and see if it is providing sustainable growth.

Social Programs

Both Hayes and Turner agree that tackling fraud and waste in the state's social programs is a top priority.

As a trooper, Turner says he saw examples of waste and fraud firsthand and thinks people who really need the help will benefit from rooting it out.

Hayes says the biggest complaint she hears is that people are receiving benefits they don't deserve.

She thinks that people who witness fraud and abuse in the system, especially administrators and social workers, should be encouraged to flag potential abuses – she believes people should take responsibility for reporting fraud but doesn't believe hiring more state investigators is the best way to confront abuse.

Education

Continuing with her theme of personal responsibility, Hayes says that improving education means further including parents or care-givers in a their children's education. 

Hayes believes an artificial barrier is placed between home and school – she thinks school districts should find creative ways to partner with parents to continually emphasise the importance of learning to students.

Turner believes that there is too much federal interference in Maine's education system.

He says the state should have more control over how it educates its students and spend less time showing them how to take tests and more time teaching the subject matter.